SPARTANBURG, S.C. (WSPA) – The City of Spartanburg said they’re hoping new district boundaries will come with changes.
“It’s up to us to re-balance the districts by population,” said Christopher George, communications manager for City of Spartanburg.
These are changes that George said are positive, like reconnecting neighborhoods that were once split. This will also provide a more balanced map, with neighborhoods being closer in size than before.
“We managed to keep some, what we call communities of interest, together better than we had 10 years ago,” said George.
Where you live affects factors like who you vote for, which is why the city said the past year has consisted of meeting with the community and listening to input.
“Almost every city council member has had meetings in their districts, they’ve all attended meetings, there were community groups, the league of women voters and some other community groups and they took it upon themselves to draw maps to submit to us which we encouraged,” said George.
It was one of these maps submitted to the city that they ended up choosing to use as a template.
The biggest update in this new map includes protecting minority representation and minimizing space between voting precincts, something George said the city pushed to make a priority.
“We had a public hearing for the redistricting process at this last meeting and no one spoke against the map at all so we’ve done a lot of due diligence on that,” said George.
Among the many neighborhoods that were once split include Hampton Heights, Converse Heights and Beaumont. This new map is making these communities whole again, allowing each to fall under one district.
City council will take up a second and final reading of the new district boundaries at their next meeting on March 29.
The city said if the map is finalized and you will be impacted by the changes, they will be reaching out to you to provide more information on what it will mean for you.
