Kane County Reapportionment Task Force Met April 22.
Here is the minutes provided by the task force:
1. Call to Order
Madam Chair Pierog called the meeting to order at 3:30 PM.
2. Roll Call
| Attendee Name | Organization | Title | Status | Arrived |
| Corinne M. Pierog | Kane County | Chairman | Present | |
| Voting Members: | ||||
| Kenneth Shepro | Kane County | Vice Chairman | Present | |
| Drew Frasz | Kane County | Board Member | Present | |
| Ron Ford | Kane County | Board Member | Present | |
| Michelle Gumz | Kane County | Board Member | Present | |
| Michael Kenyon | Kane County | Board Member | Present | |
| John Martin | Kane County | Board Member | Present | |
| Jarett Sanchez | Kane County | Board Member | Present | |
| Cherryl Strathmann | Kane County | Board Member | Present | |
| Advisory Members: | Present | |||
| Junaid Afeef | Dist. 301 Board of Education | Member | Present | |
| Steve Arnold | Kane County Farm Bureau | Manager | Present | |
| Mark Guethle | Democrat | Party Leader | Present | |
| Brenda Hernandez | Aurora Township | Trustee | Present | |
| Jeff Meyer | Republican | Party Leader | Present | |
| Brittany Pedersen | Law Offices of Pedersen & Irvin | Attorney | Present | |
| Maggie Rivera | IL Migrant Council | Executive Director | Present | |
| Jeff Schielke | City of Batavia | Mayor | Present | |
| Jeffrey Walter | Village of Elburn | Present | Present |
3. Adoption of Rules of Order
Madam Chair reminded the task force that the advisory board would not be permitted to vote. She then read the reapportionment task force rules of order out load. SA Brady confirmed statements made by Vice Chair Shepro regarding a quorum and the discussion by three or more members outside of a public meeting not being permitted were accurate. The rules of order were approved with grammatical error corrections.
| RESULT: APPROVED BY ROLL CALL VOTE [UNANIMOUS]
AYES: Kenneth Shepro, Ron Ford, Michelle Gumz, Michael Kenyon, John Martin, Jarett Sanchez, Cherryl Strathmann |
None
5. New and Unfinished Business
1. Madam Chair's Comments: Duties and Responsibilities of the Reapportionment Task Force
Madam chair requested each present member briefly introduce themselves. She then discussed the seriousness of the task at hand noting it was also very exciting. She reviewed the difference between the reapportionment and redistricting duties to be discussed and voted on by this task force. She discussed board size and district updating decisions to be made. She affirmed the need for sensitivity and briefly acknowledged the voting rights act. Madam Chair reported the county board chair and the county board members lack of an increase in compensation in many years. She discussed the cycle of terms and reiterated the need for expedite decisions on all matters at hand due to time restraints. Madam Chair Pierog introduced State's Attorney Civil Chief Michele Niermann to begin her presentation.
Civil Div. Chief Niermann introduced the newly elected Kane County State's Attorney Jamie Mosser to say a few words. Mosser addressed the committee and apologized for not being able to attend in person. She acknowledged her excellent staff and shared her excitement as we work together doing what is best for our communities. Mosser stated she looked forward to meeting each and everyone one of the members of the task force. Next, Niermann introduced Philip Luetkehans, who has been appointed as a special assistant state’s attorney to assist the County with the reapportionment process.
2. Presentation: Overview of the County Reapportionment Process and Legal Requirements (State's Attorney's Office)
Niermann began addressing the task force using a visual presentation. She acknowledged and reviewed the statutory guidelines. She reported the duties of the county board approving an ordinance to review and or fix the number of county board members every 10 years after the census. Further discussion continued on utilizing population size to determine the amount of board members on a county board. She reported the actions of our partnering counties to the reapportionment and reviewed Kane County’s options for action. She reported current data that Kane County's population is not expected to reach 800K until approximately 2050. She stated population is defined to mean the number of inhabitants as determined by the last preceding federal decennial census. Niermann reported failure to complete reapportionment by the county board by July 1, in 2021 or by the day after the county board’s regularly scheduled July meeting in 2021 would allow the county clerk to convene the county apportionment commission. The commission would then be required to develop an apportionment plan for the county in the manner provided by Section 2-3003.
Niermann discussed the equal protection clause requirements also known as one person one vote rule. The ideal district size is determined by dividing the total population by the number of seats involved. She discussed that districts with 10% population deviation are presumptively discriminatory. She discussed apportionment plans in which the population deviation is less than 10% and still can be held to violate the equal protection clause, although such a challenge is rarely successful. Niermann reviewed the Federal Voting Rights Act. She reviewed the guidelines concerning minorities and redistricting plans and other voting practices that were adopted with a discriminatory purpose. She affirmed voting dilution is prohibited. She discussed the role of race and its permissibility in the consideration of redistricting if and when it’s necessary to satisfy a compelling state interest.
Niermann reviewed the rules for drawing map lines including discrimination based on race, color or status of members of language minority groups. Vice Chair Shepro questioned the guidance provided in creating a minority district but not packing the district. Luetkehans confirmed it was a fine line. He discussed some historic Latino population trends.
Niermann reported the tasks that must be completed by the County Board. She acknowledged that determining the size of the county board to be elected and the method of election is first, next step would be determining the ideal district size without the finalized census data. After, the county board chairman has the option of presenting a reapportionment plan to the county board on or before the third Wednesday of May (May 19, 2021). The County Board must file a completed reapportionment plan with the County Clerk on or before July 1, 2021. Niermann confirmed the County Board determines the compensation of the Members of the Board and of the Chairman at the time of the apportionment. Further discussion occurred. Niermann reported by statute that no later than September 1, 2022, the County Board would divide the Board by lot into equal groups and determine terms. The Board must also adjust election precincts simultaneously with the reapportionment data. (due to the delay in its release)
Niermann discussed the challenges in proceeding without the census data to develop a preliminary plan and compiling a draft reapportionment plan. She reported the possible need to adjust the plan after the final census data is available. She discussed the importance of obtaining a legal expert to support any future court proceedings. J. Meyer questioned how the legal expert's compensation would be funded. Niermann reported this would be a contracted attorney and their fee would be drawn from a special line item in the State’s Attorney’s budget that supported compensation for contracted attorneys where needed. Niermann confirmed the County Board has already authorized the state's attorney's office to select and provide the compensation for outside counsel.
3. Presentation: Proposed Legislation (B. Pollock)
Co. Clerk staff Pollock thanked the committee for giving him the opportunity to address the committee this afternoon. He reported the efforts of the clerk’s office communicating with other county’s associations to discuss options. He reported the option to push the election back was not possible. He reviewed the option to proceed using data that is available to us now. This data from the American Community Survey (ACS) would give the number of inhabitants determined from the year of 2019. He discussed what the county permits and the methodology that if the State is using the data it is probably acceptable. He spoke of the time restraints and the July deadline. He noted completing the reapportionment by July would give enough time before the election to incorporate the data. Pollock affirmed the importance of following the statutes and filing deadlines. Further discussion occurred. Pollock confirmed the county code needs legislature to enable the ability to use the most recent data available. (ACS Data) Meyer discussed obtaining an injunctive order or a legislative fix. Madam Chair confirmed the Board’s consensus must be obtained prior to beginning the reapportionment. She affirmed the importance of prudence moving forward and if needed using a judicial solution. Meyer pointed out any judicial proceeding would be lengthy. SA Niermann concurred the sooner the better. Vice Chair Shepro briefly discussed the risks and possibility of a candidate challenging with legal action.
4. Presentation: County Board Maps and Projected County Population Data (R. Fahnestock and M. VanKerkhoff)
ITD Dir. Fahnestock acknowledged the GIS part of the County and their experience drawing maps. He noted he has been through similar situations producing and completing maps twice in his tenure with Kane County. He used a visual presentation to highlight population changes that would cause changes in the data. The Kane County GIS team used population totals based on ESRI enriched population estimates. He acknowledged the ITD department would work with the data and compile maps. He discussed the importance of an outside demographer to analyze the data when forming the districts and drawing lines. He reported the need for the Reapportionment task force to provide pertinent feedback.
Dir. Fahnestock discussed the existing time restraints and recommended special efforts to try and not split districts or ballots when drawing the district lines. He noted all the layers of districting that would be provided as the task force makes its considerations. He confirmed that the data used is American Community Survey (ACS) data and the finalized census data would most likely not be available till October or November.
Madam Chair reported the use of macro a computer science and she acknowledged significant growth within certain areas of the county. She briefly reviewed estimated constituent amounts and reported we have 291 precincts within our county. Further discussion occurred discussing the ACS data.
5. Presentation/Discussion: Ordinance No. 21-___ Determining Size and Method of Election of County Board Members to Be Elected as Part of the County’s Reapportionment Plan Following the 2020 Federal Census (State's Attorney's Office)
Madam Chair requested a motion to table Item E till next meeting, motion made by Shepro, seconded by Kenyon.
| RESULT: APPROVED BY ROLL CALL VOTE [UNANIMOUS]
MOVER: Kenneth C. Shepro, Vice Chairman SECONDER: Mike Kenyon, Board Member AYES: Kenneth Shepro, Ron Ford, Michelle Gumz, Michael Kenyon, John Martin, Jarett Sanchez, Cherryl Strathmann |
Madam chair acquired consensus from the committee to reconvene on April 29, 2021 at 3:30 p.m. She requested each member reach out to their communities for feedback on reducing the size of the County Board from 24 to 22 or to maintain the Board as is. Martin requested the attorneys involved review the statute and confirm if we are mandated to reduce the Board size to 18 when the County reaches a population of 800,000. Niermann confirmed that as the legislation stands right now it only applies to DuPage County. She noted the anticipation is that new legislature may be adopted to apply to more counties. Martin acknowledged the current lack of concern with the size of our Board. Madam Chair confirmed discussion will continue regarding the law and the rationale at the next meeting.
She affirmed the importance of making this an open process and sensitive to allow all voices. She would like the opportunity to go out into our communities to meet with our constituents so we can listen and make record of their recommendations. Vice Chair Shepro noted that Steve Weber formally submitted his letter of resignation effective May 3, 2021.
6. Executive Session (If Needed)
None
7. Adjournment
| RESULT: APPROVED WITH VOICE VOTE [UNANIMOUS]
MOVER: Mike Kenyon SECONDER: Kenneth C. Shepro, Vice Chairman AYES: Kenneth C. Shepro, Ron Ford, Michelle Gumz, Michael Kenyon, John Martin, Jarett Sanchez, Cherry Strathmann |
http://kanecountyil.iqm2.com/Citizens/FileOpen.aspx?Type=12&ID=2956&Inline=True
Alerts Sign-up