The Notes: Week of September 27 - October 1, 2021

Hey Neighbors!  We're in the waning days of September 2021.  Can you believe it?!

Welcome to a Fifth Week in City of Appleton government.  Since the Common Council generally meets twice a month on Wednesdays (Full Council Weeks) and the various committees meet twice a month on opposite weeks (Committee Weeks) and this month has a fifth Wednesday... we have ourselves a Fifth Week with no meetings scheduled! 

And of course, just as I explain all that... one meeting does show up on the calendar for this week.  The Redistricting Committee meets tomorrow (Monday, 09/27/2021, at 4pm) and only because we are in a post-census redistricting period.  

I mentioned this last week and the committee did meet last week to go over the "ground rules" for redistricting for the city's wards and districts.  The basic guidelines call for the committee members to utilize these three principles:

• Compactness: Districts should be reasonably geographically compact.  The rulebook says "you know it when you see it" though, in some parts of the city, particularly on the north side where we live, this will be more difficult due to "island territories" made as the city has acquired more territory. 
  
  
• Contiguity: Areas within a district should be physically adjacent to one another.  Again, there are some challenges with the growing areas of Appleton... but this should be an overall goal for each district.
  
  
• Ideal Population: The Ideal Population for a district in Appleton (assuming the current 15-district plan for the city) is 4,967 people (with a +/- deviation across all districts of 10% or less).

The plan for the city should also incorporate the Calumet County, Outagamie County, and Winnebago County supervisory districts.  And as of this point, the city has only received preliminary plans from each of the counties. 

We're on a tight timeline, though, so the committee is moving ahead!  Here are the current districts and their approximate populations:

And of importance to our neighborhoods, here is the current draft Outagamie County plan for supervisory districts:

The following three plans are on the table for discussion by the Redistricting Committee tomorrow .  Keeping in mind our neighborhoods and the Outagamie County plan where our neighborhoods are concerned and the three principles noted above, take a look at these three options and let me know your thoughts:

Not only is the committee concerned about the north side of Appleton.  So... once you think you see which option makes the most sense and follows the guiding principles for our neighborhoods, take a look at that option and how other parts of the city are affected.  Does one plan follow those principles most closely and match the county supervisory districts more closely?  

THIS is the work of the Redistricting Committee.  I will be attending this meeting to see what information I can glean from it.  Then... the rest of the week will be preparing for the start of October and our upcoming Full Council Week.  

Please contact me with any questions you have in this regard or any thoughts you have on the three options for redistricting you see above.  I look forward to hearing from you!