HomeMy WebLinkAbout(0119) ORDINANCE - Adopting a Single-Member City Council District Plan.FinalORDINANCE NO.
AN ORDINANCE ADOPTING A SINGLE -MEMBER CITY COUNCIL
DISTRICT PLAN; PROVIDING THAT THIS ORDINANCE SHALL BE
CUMULATIVE; PROVIDING A SEVERABILITY CLAUSE; PROVIDING
A SAVINGS CLAUSE; AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE
WHEREAS the City Council of the City of Fort Worth is currently comprised of nine (9)
members, consisting of a mayor elected at -large and representatives from eight single -member districts;
WHEREAS in 2016, voters of the City of Fort Worth approved an amendment to the City Charter
to increase the number of City Council persons to eleven (11) following the completion of the 2020
Census;
WHEREAS boundaries of Council districts must be adjusted to accommodate the addition of two
new districts and to account for shifts in population that resulted from the total population of the City of
Fort Worth having increased by approximately 23% since the prior census, but in a manner that was not
evenly distributed across the City;
WHEREAS the City Council on August 4, 2020, adopted Resolution No. 5259-08-2020,
appointing a Redistricting Task Force (Task Force) and charging the Task Force with responsibility for
advising the Council about the criteria and procedures by which the Council should redraw its district
boundaries following publication of block -level population data from the 2020 census by the U.S. Bureau
of the Census;
WHEREAS the Task Force completed its assigned work and presented its final report to the City
Council at the Council's regular work session on March 2, 2021, with the final report consisting of the
presentation titled "Final Report of the Redistricting Task Force," dated March 2, 2021;
WHEREAS on April 6, 2021, the City Council adopted Resolution No. 5375-04-2021 and
accepted the Task Force's findings and recommendations as set forth in the final report and, accordingly,
adopted certain Task Force -recommended criteria, as follows:
Huh -priority criteria, not in any order of priority:
(a) Approximately equal size: The populations of all districts shall be approximately equal. In no
event shall the population of the largest district be more than ten percent greater than the population
of the smallest district.
(b) Legal _ compliance: The redrawing of district boundaries shall comply with the U.S. Constitution,
the Voting Rights Act, the Texas Constitution, and other applicable laws to avoid impermissible
packing, fragmentation, or retrogression in the ability of minorities to participate in the electoral
process.
(c) Minority opportunity districts: The City shall create minority opportunity districts, to the extent
possible and in compliance with federal law, to reflect the City's growing diversity. Such districts
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are intended to create opportunities for fair representation rather than to promote electoral
outcomes. Electability is a function of many factors, including candidate qualifications, appeal to
voters, voting -age population, voter registration, and voter participation as well as demographic
characteristics.
(d) Communities of interest: The City shall contain communities of interest in single districts, where
feasible, with community of interest defined as a local population with shared socio-economic
characteristics and political institutions that would benefit from unified representation.
Communities of interest may include neighborhoods, groups of neighborhoods, school
attendance zones, and similar geographic areas.
(e) Contiguous territory: To the extent feasible, each district shall consist of contiguous territory.
Lower -priority criteria, not in any order of priority:
(a) Compactness: Each district shall be geographically compact, with the goal of attaining a Polsby-
Popper ratio greater than or equal to 0.050. If any proposed district yields a compactness score
that is less than 0.050, then a detailed justification must be stated.
(b) Identifiable _geographic boundaries: District boundaries shall consist of easily identifiable
geographic features, such as streams, railroad tracks, and major thoroughfares to the extent
feasible. To the extent possible, dwelling units that are located on opposite sides of the same
residential street shall be assigned to the same district.
(c) Voting precincts: Districts shall consist of whole voting precincts, where feasible.
(d) Census blocks and block groups: To the extent possible, districts shall consist of whole census
blocks.
(e) Places of residence: In redrawing district boundaries, the City shall not consider the place of
residence of any incumbent or potential candidate.
WHEREAS the City Council also adopted certain redistricting procedures, which included the
registration of self -identified communities of interest and the training of and assistance to residents in the
use of the redistricting software to allow residents to prepare and submit maps for consideration;
WHEREAS the City Council on October 19, 2021, adopted (i) Resolution No. 5487-10-2021,
reactivating the Task Force and charging it with certain responsibilities to receive and evaluate
redistricting maps and to select an initial map for consideration by the City Council, and (ii) Resolution
No. 5488-10-2021, amending Resolution No. 5375-04-2021 to incorporate the work of the reactivated
Task Force into the procedures, and referencing the possibility of a City Council -proposed map for
evaluation by the Task Force;
WHEREAS the City Council on December 14, 2021, adopted Resolution No. 5512-12-2021 to
amend the redistricting schedule to allow more flexibility and 21-CP 320 to allow additional maps to be
submitted to the Task Force;
WHEREAS the reconstituted Task Force met on January 6, 2022, January 13, 2022, and January
24, 2022 to hear public comment, which public comment included requests to (a) keep certain
neighborhoods and communities of interest together, (b) create a second Hispanic opportunity district, and
(c) move the Como neighborhood to District 6 or District 9 at the request of the Como neighborhood;
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WHEREAS during their meetings, the Task Force evaluated 26 proposed maps from which the
Task Force, on January 24, 2022, selected one map, Map X, for City Council consideration, with
recommended changes to Map X to respond to public input;
WHEREAS the City Council on February 22, 2022, adopted Resolution No. 5532-02-2022, which
amended previous resolutions to provide for further revisions to the redistricting process in order to further
facilitate the City Council's robust public transparency, spirited public discourse, and broad input from
the public, including technology -based public participation;
WHEREAS in February and March of 2022, City Council engaged in (i) a series of public
hearings, which involved substantial public engagement in person and via technology, including telephone
and internet meeting platforms, and (ii) several meetings at which they considered various maps, including
amended versions ofMap X, produced by City Councilmembers to address and respond to various requests
by the public;
WHEREAS on March 23, 2022, the City Council held a map drawing session and after spirited
public debate and a painstaking effort at compromise, produced a redistricting plan entitled The Anna
Map, which map addressed many of the requests by the public, including (a) keeping certain communities
of interest and neighborhoods together, (b) creating a second Hispanic opportunity district, and (c) moving
the Como neighborhood to District 6 because of the request of the Como neighborhood.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE
CITY OF FORT WORTH, TEXAS, THAT:
SECTION 1.
The redistricting plan dated March 23, 2022, attached hereto as Exhibit "A" and referred to as The
Anna Map, is hereby adopted as the Fort Worth Single -Member City Council District Plan for the purpose
of electing members of the City Council.
The Fort Worth Single -Member City Council District Plan, as shown on Exhibit "A", shall be
implemented for the general election of the City Council to be held in May 2023, and for each subsequent
City election, until the City Council shall again establish new single -member district boundaries in
accordance with Chapter IV, Section 3 of The Charter of the City of Fort Worth, Texas.
SECTION 2.
This ordinance shall be cumulative of all provisions of ordinances and of the Code of the City of
Fort Worth, Texas (2015), as amended, except where the provisions of this ordinance are in direct conflict
with the provisions of such ordinances and such Code, in which event conflicting provisions of such
ordinances and such Code are hereby repealed.
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SECTION 3.
It is hereby declared to be the intention of the City Council that the phrases, clauses, sentences,
paragraphs and sections of this ordinance are severable, and, if any phrase, clause, sentence, paragraph or
section of this ordinance shall be declared unconstitutional by the valid judgment or decree of any court
of competent jurisdiction, such unconstitutionality shall not affect any of the remaining phrases, clauses,
sentences, paragraphs and sections of this ordinance, since the same would have been enacted by the City
Council without the incorporation in this ordinance of any such unconstitutional phrase, clause, sentence,
paragraph or section.
SECTION 4.
This ordinance shall take effect upon adoption.
APPROVED AS TO FORM
AND LEGALITY:
Laetitia Coleman Brown,
Interim City Attorney
ADOPTED: March 29, 2022
EFFECTIVE: March 29, 2022
Ordinance No.
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ATTEST:
Janette S. Goodall,
City Secretary
EXHIBIT "A"
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Also located as of date of adoption of this ordinance at this link:
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Ordinance No.
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