Subject:
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Appointments to the Pinellas County Redistricting Board (Individual appointments and Board of County Commissioners as a whole).
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Recommended Action:
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Approve eleven appointments, seven of which are nominees by each of the seven individual Commissioners, and four of which are applicants to be appointed by the Board of County Commissioners as whole.
• Each County Commissioner has nominated an individual who resides within their district and is a registered voter in Pinellas County to be appointed to the Pinellas County Redistricting Board. The County Commission as a whole will also appoint four At-Large members to the Redistricting Board. These members shall reside in Pinellas County and be a registered voter.
• Nominees by each Commissioner are listed by District below:
a.) District 1 - Mark Weinkrantz (Commissioner Janet Long)
b.) District 2 - Mary Louise Ambrose (Commissioner Pat Gerard)
c.) District 3 - Allison Nall (Commissioner Charlie Justice)
d.) District 4 - Ron Schultz (Commissioner Dave Eggers)
e.) District 5 - Christian D. Ruppel (Commissioner Karen Seel)
f.) District 6 - James P. Everett (Commissioner Kathleen Peters)
g.) District 7 - Canaan McCaslin (Commissioner Rene Flowers)
• Applicants to fill the four At-Large Appointment positions can be viewed on the attached ballot/worksheet. All applications and resumes are attached to the agenda item.
• The Clerk of the Circuit Court (Clerk) will call each Commissioner by name and the Commissioner will state their four choices for the four At-Large positions. The Clerk will tally the votes. If another voice vote is required, the process will be repeated until the four At-Large appointments are filled by a majority vote.
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Background Information:
The Pinellas County Charter provides that the Board of County Commissioners shall consist of seven commissioners. Four of the county commission districts shall together cover the entire county and be as nearly equal in population as practicable, with each commissioner being nominated and elected only by the qualified electors who reside in the same county commission district as the commissioner. Three of the seven commissioners shall be nominated and elected at-large, with each of the three at-large commissioners residing one in each of three districts, the three districts together covering the entire county and as nearly equal in population as practicable.
After each decennial census, counties are required to undergo redistricting to ensure fair representation and to fix district boundaries so as to keep them as nearly equal in proportion to population as possible. The County Charter provides for the establishment of a County Redistricting Board composed of eleven (11) members. The County Redistricting Board shall develop one or more proposals for redistricting the four single-member county commission districts and three at-large county commission districts. No later than one hundred fifty (150) days after its first meeting, the County Redistricting Board shall submit a final report containing its redistricting proposals to the Board of County Commissioners. The proposals of the County Redistricting Board shall be advisory only and shall not bind the Board of County Commissioners.
The Redistricting Board shall consist of eleven members, as appointed by the Board of County Commissioners. Each of the seven County Commissioners shall nominate a resident, who must reside in that Commissioner's district; four additional members may be selected from the public at-large. No member of the Redistricting Board may be an elected official. Vacancies shall be filled within thirty days in the same manner as the original appointments.
Attachments:
Applications/Resumes for At-Large Applicants
Applications/Resumes for Single Member District Nominees
Worksheet/Ballot
Partner(s):
Jewel White, Pinellas County Attorney