Redistricting to make 1st Ward largest in city

Proposed city redistricting map

After seven different proposals, the City of Greencastle appears to have a new redistricting map.

With a deadline for equalizing the voting populations in the city’s four wards coming and implementation due after the 2023 election, volunteer efforts by local activist Kelsey Kauffman and her son, Aden Stinebrickner-Kauffman, have given Greencastle a new map.

The City Council is expected to take action on the redistricting effort at its November meeting (Thursday, Nov. 10 at City Hall) after briefly discussing the issue at the October Council session.

Discussion of the matter began in earnest at the May meeting when the Council looked at proposals from several law firms willing to tackle the process for $35,000-$40,000.

However, it was Kauffman who has been involved in state redistricting issues along with a group of DePauw University students helping lead the charge to make city voting districts as close to equality as possible.

Redistricting “has been a major part of my life for the past 11 years,” Kauffman told the Council in May, suggesting there was no need to hire an outside firm to do the redistricting in a community this size.

The proposed redistricting map selection has resulted in a complete turn-around for First Ward, represented on the Council by Adam Cohen. It is presently the smallest of the four wards. Under the proposed change, with a population of 2,478, First Ward would represent the largest voting contingent.

The changes would also put 2,442 in the Second Ward (represented by Stacie Langdon), 2,440 in Third Ward (represented by Veronica Pejril) and 2,460 in Fourth Ward (represented by Cody Eckert).

“Ironically,” Council President Mark Hammer, one of the three at-large members, said, “First Ward, which was our smallest, is now our largest by just a few people.”

The proposed map also “maintains the integrity of the current districts,” he added.

“This one just rose to the top (among the seven map considerations),” Hammer said, because of the consistent population via wards.

As redrawn, First Ward is essentially the west side of Greencastle, from the viaduct on the north side to Veterans Memorial Highway on the south and west of Locust Street.

Second Ward, as redrawn, is essentially everything north of Washington Street and east of Northwood Boulevard/Greenwood Drive to the city limits on the east.

Third Ward is essentially redrawn as south of Washington Street to Tennessee Street north of Foxridge, east of Locust Street, including the entire East Side to the city limits.

Fourth Ward is redrawn as all of Foxridge plus a few areas north of Veterans Highway and south to city limits, as far west as the west side of Locust Street and east to 10th Street.

More specifics on the actual street layouts is expected to be available at the November City Council meeting.

The volunteer effort of Kauffman and her son “saved us a lot of money and did it without any political infighting,” Councilman Cohen praised.

The next question is whether the city wishes to remain with a seven-member Council or steps back to a five-member board now that the latest Census has put Greencastle’s population back at fewer than 10,000 residents.

City Attorney Laurie Hardwick said she will prepare an ordinance both ways and the Council can vote on having five or seven members. Dropping back to five could pit Hammer against Dave Murray and Darrel Thomas as the lone at-large candidate should the three run again in the next election.

Going back to five, Hammer pointed out, could save the city $170,000 over the course of 10 years.

“I like the idea of seven voices,” Councilor Langdon said.

Murray agreed. Keeping it at seven, he said, offers “a diversity of thought.”

In other business, the Council:

-- Unanimously passed on first reading Ordinance 2022-10 which limits parking on Franklin Street to just the south side of the street between College Avenue and Indianapolis Road. Adoption of the ordinance on second reading is expected at the Council’s Nov. 10 meeting.

-- Passed on first reading Ordinance 2022-11 which cleans up some discrepancies in the parking ordinance and deletes the 10-minute spot in the Walnut Street lot that was provided for pandemic-time food pickup for nearby restaurants and Breadworks.

-- Approved Ordinance 2022-13 on first reading, eliminating five previously reserved spots for First Christian Church in the Walnut Street lot that had been reserved since the lot was acquired by the city from the church.

-- Approved Ordinance 2022-14 on first reading, adding a handicapped space on the south side of the city parking lot north of the Banner Graphic building. There had been no previous handicapped spot in that city lot.

-- Adopted Ordinance 2022-6 on second reading, setting a 2023 city budget of $29,417,568 with $4,158,710 coming via the adopted tax levy at an adopted rate of $1.6723 per $100 of assessed value.