Ellis County Commissioners choose redistricting map with highest deviations
ELLIS COUNTY – Ellis County commissioners voted in a 3-2 vote last week to go with Map A for redistricting the lines in Ellis County, which will affect upcoming elections for at least the next 10 years.
Map A deviates 9.76% from the current benchmark lines the commissioners are currently serving. Map B deviates 5.4% from the current benchmark lines.
Precinct 3 County Commissioner Paul Perry made the motion to accept Map B and Ellis County Judge Todd Little seconded.
However, the three other precinct chairs; Kyle Butler, Lane Grayson and Randy Stinson voted Map B down and passed Map A instead.
Grayson, Butler and Stinson did not respond to an email asking for a response for their decision to choose Map A with the higher deviation.
Perry did respond.
“It is unfortunate that the map that was drawn was apparently for political purposes and it is going to be the map we use for the election going forward for the next 10 years,” he said. “The simple fact is the B-1 Map that I voted for better represented the goal of redistricting, which is to equalize the population between precincts. The A-1 Map, which the majority of the county commissioners voted for and in my opposition, increases the differential between precincts and it is more uneven.”
“This is simply unfair all because it was used to keep a person interested in running in Precinct 4 from running in that precinct by moving him to Precinct 3,” Perry said.
Louis Ponder was moved from Butler’s Precinct 4 to Perry’s Precinct 3 after he had mentioned he would run for the Precinct 4 seat against Butler.
“On Oct. 29 I called Randy Stinson, commissioner of Precinct 1, to talk about the details of each vote and explain to him why I felt that Map B was the best option for the county as a whole,” Ponder said. “He did not feel the same. When I try to explain to him that Map B brought the compliance more in line with the rules he said, and I’m paraphrasing, ‘I don’t care about the rules, I don’t want a couple of thousand voters in my precinct to have to campaign to. I know the folks in my precinct; I don’t know these other people.’”
Ponder went on to say: “On Nov. 2 several of us spoke in favor of Map B. I spoke to the numbers for each precinct and why Map B was the best option for their constituents and the county as a whole. I finished my address to the court with this statement, ‘With the Midlothian area being the fastest growing in the county, it makes zero sense to select the map that reduces the two biggest precincts the least. Getting all precincts the closest to the ideal number could reduce or eliminate the need to redraw the lines in 10 years. Again, the only real choice is B-1. Please vote for the county, not for your political desires.’”
Ponder added that as Butler was leaving the court that day he told him he was not mad at him.
“Funny, he just screwed his constituents out of the chance to choose who they wanted for commissioner and he thought that there was a concern about whether or not he was mad at me,” Ponder said.
Map B kept the small section of land owned by Ponder in its current Precinct 4 boundary. Ponder owns a 40-acre tract of land in Midlothian between Mt. Zion and Plainview Road. Ponder’s homestead and his family have owned the property for more than 120 years.
The county has grown by 42,000 residents since the last census was conducted in 2010. Last year’s census counted 192,000 residents in the county.
Redistricting for the justice of the peace and constable precinct boundaries are on the Wednesday, Nov. 10, specially called commissioner’s court meeting agenda.
“As commissioners, our job is to redistrict the population once every 10 years as the county grows, after the de-cennial census is completed. We must consider these maps carefully, as they are binding for the next decade,” Ellis County Judge Todd Little said. “The population statistics showed that Map B provided for the lowest percentage of deviation among precinct voters at 5.73%, while Map A showed a deviation percentage of 9.76%. It was obvious to me that Map B was the best division of the county’s population as it relates to all citizens.”
“Putting politics aside, I was confident in my vote and support for Map B, even though in the end, Map A was eventually selected and approved,” Little said. “My thanks go to all committee members and citizens who participated and weighed in on this very important process. With an appointed committee and two public hearings, the process was very transparent and allowed for much public input by all.”