WS Minutes 2022.04.051
PRATTVILLE CITY COUNCIL
WORK SESSION MINUTES
TUESDAY, APRIL 5, 2022
5:30 P.M.
The Prattville City Council held a work session on Tuesday, April 5, 2022, at 5:30 p.m. in the
Council Chambers at City Hall.
Roll was called with all Councilors recorded as present with the exception of Councilors
Jackson and Gornto. Council President Starnes declared a quorum present and called the work
session to order.
Mayor Bill Gillespie, Jr. and the Mayor’s Executive Assistant Lisa Byrd were recorded as being
present, in addition to the following staff: City Engineer Robby Anderson, City Clerk Paula G.
Barlow, Finance Director Daniel Oakley, City Attorney Andrew Odom, Assistant City Clerk
Dawn Russell, Deputy Finance Director Carlee Sims, City Planner Scott Stephens, and Police
Chief Mark Thompson.
Council President Starnes opened the work session stating the purpose was to discuss the
redistricting of council districts pursuant to the 2020 Census. The agenda included City Planner
Scott Stephens and City Engineer Robby Anderson presenting updates on the project. At the
conclusion of their presentation, Councilors could ask questions and then the floor would be
open to the public for comments. Council President Starnes turned the work session over to
Mr. Stephens.
Mr. Stephens advised in the initial stage of the project, he and Mr. Anderson worked together
to collect feedback from all seven Councilors and report to Alabama State University’s (ASU)
Center for Leadership and Public Policy. The team’s primary goal was to equalize the
population counts within the seven districts using the City’s 2020 census population total
(37,781) and dividing it by the number of districts (7), ending with 5,397 (+/- 5%) per district.
Mr. Stephens stated the purpose of the methodology was relative to the equal protection
clause, namely one person, one vote. Additional methodologies applied in the initial stage
were using census blocks, maintaining contiguous and reasonably compact districts, keeping
incumbents in their district, and reducing the number of split neighborhoods. Mr. Stephens
advised the current draft reduced split neighborhoods from five (5) to one (1) and the lone
neighborhood itself went from being split into three districts to two. The redistricting team
advised it was not good practice to split census blocks, although one remains. The first draft
was produced on February 15, 2022, and distributed to all Councilors. After review and
feedback, the second draft and most recent was produced on February 25, 2022 and again
distributed to all Councilors (attached). Mr. Stephens stressed the February 25th draft was in
no way the final map and that no vote was scheduled for the current meeting to adopt it. Going
forward, Mr. Stephens asked the Council to send community feedback and comments to him
and Mr. Anderson, including any direction from the Councilors. Mr. Stephens’ only
recommendation thus far, was to reconsider the one split census block located on Amelia Drive.
Mr. Stephens advised Councilors they were also able to reach out to Mr. Mayberry and Mr.
Hines at ASU.
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Council President Starnes asked if Councilors had questions for the panel. Councilor
Chambers asked if ASU offered any alternatives to splitting a census block. Mr. Stephens
advised that the census block is the smallest unit and for best practice should not be split.
There being no other questions from the Council, Council President Starnes opened the work
session to comments from the public.
Bobby Mays, resident of Elmore County representing members who live in Prattville, stated he
was concerned about the one community split into two districts. He believed one of the aims
of redistricting was to keep communities whole. He asked what effort was made to not split the
neighborhood. Mr. Anderson responded that Mr. Stephens and the team tried to incorporate
all neighborhoods as best they could, resulting in reunification of four of the five split
neighborhoods. Mr. Anderson pointed out the Highland Ridge neighborhood still split on the
02-25 map. He reiterated that currently it is split into three districts and with the most recent
draft has been reduced to split in only two districts. Mr. Anderson mentioned that adjusting
one district’s total number produces an adjustment to another district and so forth. Mr. Mays
stated he hoped at some point the Council would be willing to hear from that specific
community. Mr. Anderson responded that the team and Councilors are always open to hear
from the public and asked if there was anyone present from Highland Ridge this evening.
With no other public comments, Council President Starnes moved into closing comments.
Mayor Gillespie thanked the Councilors and staff working on the redistricting project. He
advised that he would like to see work with the federal government in the future on census
block ranges. Councilor Striplin expressed his appreciation to the team involved in the
redistricting project. Councilor Chambers echoed Mayor Gillespie and Councilor Striplin’s
appreciation to the team and their efforts. He advised that ASU has been a tremendous asset
in this process. Councilor Strichik commented that he appreciated the team and ASU’s work.
Council President Starnes verified Mr. Hines’ (ASU) availability on April 19, 2022.
Council President Starnes announced another work session regarding redistricting scheduled
for April 19, 2022, at 5:30 p.m. The current work session was concluded at 5:50 p.m.
APPROVED:
___________________________
Paula G. Barlow
City Clerk
___________________________
Gerald “Jerry” Starnes, President
Prattville City Council
SUBMITTED BY:
Dawn Russell
Assistant City Clerk