New Map Approved for Kane County Board Districts

The Kane County Board overwhelmingly approved new boundaries for board districts Monday, making Kane the first metropolitan-area county to complete the decennial remapping process.

The new map is the result of collaboration with outside interest groups and bipartisan cooperation among board members. Kane County’s effort is unique in that it included a reduction in the number of board districts from 26 to 24 in a step intended to enhance responsiveness and cost-efficiency in county government.

“I am extremely proud of the efforts put into this process by many board members,” said County Board Chairman Karen McConnaughay. “As we are seeing in Springfield, this can be a vicious process. We were able to set aside partisanship and political agendas and establish an open and transparent process that resulted in broad support for the map.”

The redistricting plan was passed by a vote of 22 ayes to 3 nays (1 Absent) with a majority of both Democrats and Republicans voting in favor.

“The bipartisan support reflects the efforts we made to have an open process,” said board member Cathy Hurlbut who chaired the board’s Redistricting Task Force. “We invited participation from the public and every draftmap produced by the board was posted on the Internet for review. This was a far cry from the process we have seen in other jurisdictions,” she added.

The board voted two weeks ago to reduce the size of the County Board in part because of state law that will mandate a reduction in the board’s size to 18 members when the county reaches a population of 800,000, which is projected to occur within the next 20 years.

“I felt strongly that the board needed to be reduced in size to enhance the efficiency of our operations and to begin the move towards what is an almost certain mandate in the future,” said McConnaughay. “It was the board’s decision to move in an incremental way towards reduction, and I think it was a good move.”

McConnaughay also pointed out that the county was the first to complete its map in the Chicago metropolitan area.

“Many counties have relied on expensive consultants and legal teams, spending huge amounts of money,” she said. "We relied on our in-house information technology staff and the hard work of elected board members to roll up their sleeves and get this job done in a transparent, timely and cost-effective manner.”

The Redistricting Task Force sought input from minority groups to maximize their voice in the electoral process as well as from local officials and private citizens who expressed their concerns about the map.

“Our objective was to respect communities of interest and to comply with the letter and spirit of the law with regard to minority representation,” said Redistricting Task Force member Jesse Vazquez. “The minority communities had a seat at the table throughout the process and the result is a map that ensures minority rights."

The new district boundaries will be in place for the 2012 election cycle for which candidates will begin to circulate nominating petitions this summer.

This press release is courtesy of Kane County.

Editor's note: Mike Donahue's blog will post at 2 p.m. Tuesday.