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Pamela Gould reports on City Hall. You can reach her at 540-735-1972 or pgould@freelancestar.com. Robyn Sidersky reports on city schools. You can reach her at 540-374-5413 or rsidersky@freelancestar.com.Visit our Facebook page.
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Work session tonight will tackle courts, redistricting
At 5:30 tonight, the City Council will hold a work session to discuss proposed courthouse facilities and the city’s redistricting.
The part of the meeting to discuss the courts will be closed. There are three proposals left for the council to evaluate. In the council’s last open session, it determined criteria to evaluate the three proposals.
The second part of the session will be for the council to discuss the redistricting options. There are now five options to choose from. Here’s a link to the city’s website, which has maps and explanations of the changes. What does this mean to you? It means your ward and where you vote could change.
Here’s a timeline of the rest of the redistricting process:
- March 22, 2011 – City Council Update (Power Point Presentation)
- April 20, 2011 – Public Information Meeting, City Council Chambers, 7:00 P.M. (Power Point Presentation)
- June 6, 2011 – Meeting with School Board, City Council Chambers, 7:30 P.M. (Power Point Presentation)
- June 28, 2011 – City Council Work Session, City Hall Room 218 (2nd Floor), 5:30 P.M. (Power Point Presentation)
- July 1 – September 27, 2011 – Public Review and Comment Period – Extended!
- Attend community association meetings as requested
- Refine options for new Ward boundaries
- Electoral Board to identify new precinct boundaries and polling places
- August 2, 2011 – Public Information Meeting, City Council Chambers, 7:00 P.M. (Power Point Presentation)
- August 23, 2011 – City Council Selects Preferred Option, City Council Chambers, 7:30 P.M. (Staff Report)
- September 13, 2011 – City Council Public Hearing, City Council Chambers, 7:30 P.M. (Staff Report)
- September 20, 2011 – City Council Work Session, City Hall Room 218 (2nd floor), 5:30 P.M.
- September 27, 2011 – Continuation of City Council Public Hearing and First Reading of Ordinance, City Council Chambers, 7:30 P.M.
- October 11, 2011 – City Council Second Reading, City Council Chambers, 7:30 P.M
- October 2011 – Submission to the Department of Justice (DOJ)
- January 31, 2012 – Anticipated DOJ clearance granted
- March 2012 – Filing deadline to run for public office
- May 1, 2012 – At-large City Council, Mayoral, and School Board member elections
The meeting is in room 218 of City Hall, 715 Princess Anne St.
