Jesse Oliver, chairman of the Redistricting Commission, speaks with fellow commissioners following a March 28 meeting at Dallas City Hall.
“MY GOAL IS FULL AND FAIR REPRESENTATION.”
JESSE OLIVER, CHAIRMAN, DALLAS REDISTRICTING COMMISSION
ALEXANDER WILLIS COMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER
redistricting process creates a healthy government that encourages people to get involved. Voters “need to feel like they are part of the process and that they’re being heard,” she said. “The way you do that is making sure you have communi- ties together as a voice selecting their representatives.” Howtoget engaged The Dallas redistricting process began in October and included a series of town halls in November. The commission is analyzing input at public meetings and accepting dis- trict map proposals through April 15. Once the map deadline has passed, the commission will narrow down pro- posed maps to three options. The com- mission will then hold another public meeting for a nal round of community input and submit a nal map to Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson tentatively in May. “We have to get to a nal map that a majority of the commission supports and submit it to themayor,” Oliver said. “It’s my goal that we achieve unani- mous support for the map.” City Council will then have 45 days to adopt the map or modify and approve a newmap. If the council does not approve a map by the deadline, the commission’s version of the map will automatically be adopted. This year’s redistricting process will also be the rst since 1972 in which the city of Dallas will not require district map approval from the U.S. Depart- ment of Justice due to a 2014 ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court. New boundaries will go into e ect for the May 2023 City Council election. Valerie Wi lesworth contributed to this report.
NEED TOKNOW
April 15: Last day for the public to submit a
redistricting map To learn about the redistricting process, including how to submit a map or nd out when the next meeting will be, visit www.dallasredistricting.com.
later added, “My goal is full and fair representation.” One citizen who has submitted three maps for consideration is Melanie Van- landingham, a resident of Lakewood who regularly attends commission meetings at City Hall. “To make meaningful changes for our new map, we must keep together important neighborhood associations, and the relationships to each other and each district,” Vanlandingham said. “These re ect essential district char- acteristics built over decades about everything important to residents, leaders and businesses.” Vanlandingham pointed to her own District 14 as an example, saying the Lakewood community is directly tied with the Oak Lawn community as they have “developed in similar patterns over a hundred years.” Another Dallas resident who submit- ted maps to the commission is Bill Bet- zen, who also participated in the 2011 redistricting process. Betzen said holding city lead- ers accountable for the redistrict- ing process is essential to a healthy community. “You want a city that works politi- cally, and if the people are politically involvedandwatching theirpoliticians, you’ll havemore honest politicians and politicians that really are motivated to serve their people,” Betzen said. Blackmon said that a healthy
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LAKE HIGHLANDS LAKEWOOD EDITION • APRIL 2022
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