By Madhu Mayer
The Joliet City Council redistricting maps will change all the districts.
This is a concern many are pondering, particularly Councilwoman Sherri Reardon, who is concerned she may be remapped out of District 3 which she represents.
During the recent Joliet City Council meeting, many Council members said they need to know how redistricting will impact the districts they serve ahead of an election in 2023. Reardon at the meeting said her last conversation with City Manager James Capparelli indicated that no remapping would be required.
When a district grows by 10 percent, it triggers a remap of the district. Capparelli told Reardon her district actually grew by 16 percent, which would prompt redistricting. The city manager said a possible redistricting will impact every Joliet City Council district, except for District 1, represented by Larry Hug. District 1 did not change in population, based on 2020 census figures, according to Capparelli.
Reardon claims Capparelli told her back in April that no district grew by more than 5 percent, but the city manager said at the recent council meeting that new information he obtained proved otherwise.
“I am going to come up with plans for (the Joliet City Council) to discuss (at a future date),” he said. Capparelli said his intention is to keep everyone in their council districts.
Under federal and state laws, the city is required to periodically reapportion five council districts to maintain roughly equal populations within each district. Redistricting considers the growth in census numbers.
Councilwoman Betty Gavin’s District 4 loss the most population.
Terry Morris, who represents District 5, told The Times Weekly the population in his district decreased by 3 to 5 percent.
“We should be discussing this further sometime during this summer,” he said. While he ponders the prospects of remapping and how it will impact his district, Morris said redistricting is unavoidable as laws dictate it and population changes. When the redistricting process is complete, each district in Joliet should have roughly the same number of people within its boundaries.
Morris said at the council meeting he believes there should be one more district added for a total of 6 to have better representation. However, the city can’t just have 1 more district they’d have to add 2 councilmembers, one could be an At Large councilperson to keep the council even.
