Government
BY TOMER RONEN
County moves forward with citizens redistricting committee
Fort Bend County Judge KP George appointed Jacob Lee, treasurer for the Fort Bend Conservatives PAC, to head the county’s new Citizens Redistricting Advisory Committee at a July 22 meeting. Appointments came after a July 8 meeting, where a 3-2 vote approved the creation of the committee, which will allow the public to advise the court on redistricting. The backstory The move comes after several debates about how to draw county voter precincts this year, following a letter from state Rep. Matt Morgan, R-Richmond, saying 37 of 174 of the county’s voter precincts during the November election did not meet state population requirements. State law requires counties with populations over 100,000 to contain no less than 100 and no more than 5,000 voters in each precinct.
What they’re saying Commissioners Vincent Morales and Andy Meyers said they believe the county could be sued without action to comply. “I will tell you, the state legislators, our state reps, are watching,” Morales said at the July 8 meeting. “We’ve got to get this right; we’ve got to make sure it is within the legal bounds. Otherwise, we’re going to get sued anyway.” However, Commissioner Dexter McCoy said approving a new map could open the county up to lawsuits similar to Petteway v. Galveston County, which saw the reversal of a four-decade-long precedent last August that allows racial and ethnic groups to aggregate their populations in cases of Voting Rights Act violations. Looking ahead County officials declined to comment on when and where the committee will meet.
Meet the Citizens Redistricting Advisory Committee
NOTE: PRECINCT 4 COMMISSIONER DEXTER MCCOY AND PRECINCT 2 COMMISSIONER GRADY PRESTAGE DID NOT NOMINATE ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEMBERS, WITH MCCOY CITING UNCLEAR PROCESSES FOR THE COMMITTEE. Appointed by Precinct 3 Commissioner Andy Meyers: Upendra Sahu , assistant secretary for Fort Bend County Levee Improvement District Mike Gibson , former chairman for Fort Bend County Republican Party Appointed by Judge KP George: Jacob Lee , treasurer for the Fort Bend Conservative PAC (Chair) Robert Beham , second vice chairman for Fort Bend County Republican Party Appointed by Precinct 1 Commissioner Vincent Morales: Wendy Duncan , who ran for Precinct 3 commissioner in 2020 Ryan Yokubaitis , Pecan Grove Municipal Utility District president
SOURCE: FORT BEND COUNTY/COMMUNITY IMPACT
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