Agenda 11-16-2021; 8-a - Minutes

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17 1 were put forth but she said it was from two commissioners who had lost a race and not from the 2 public that brought this forth at this time, and she voted against it because she did not want to 3 spend a lot of time and money and concern on this from sour grapes. She said all this work has 4 been done, and she thinks far more public outreach would be needed. She said with the 5 General Assembly drawing districts, now is not the time to be doing this. She said if pandemic 6 numbers come down and children can be vaccinated, that opens up a window later to have the 7 real public outreach, the in person meetings and in-depth study that would truly be needed for 8 everyone. She said it is pretty bad that people do not know whom to call. She said the survey 9 shows more voter education is needed on that, but she is not persuaded either way. She said 10 she thinks the Board should wait and see, and really consider whether or not to proceed with 11 any additional changes, or whether to proceed incrementally by just focusing on district 12 nominate, district elect as a first step and get public input on that. 13 Commissioner McKee said his main concern is that if a change is made, he wants to 14 make sure it is to a better system. He said if it goes to seven districts, he is concerned about 15 how those districts will be drawn, and if it will have an impact on how well people feel they are 16 represented. He said there are no uniform worldviews in Orange County, and neighbors of all 17 kinds are living peaceably with each other. He said if these discussions happen, they need to 18 happen in public, in multiple places across the county, and the group chosen to redraw the 19 districts has demographic, geographic, and political diversity. 20 Chair Price said Commissioner Dorosin brought this up last, but the issue has come up 21 many times in the past. She said it is confusing and residents of District 2 want to feel they are 22 choosing their representative, and not Chapel Hill. 23 Chair Price said there is a need for further information, before moving forward with 24 possibly redrawing districts. 25 Commissioner Hamilton said before having a group redraw districts, she wants more 26 input from the community to see if it even wants to visit this topic. 27 Commissioner Bedford said she would like to wait to discuss next steps because the 28 BOCC will receive an update on the census in October. She suggested adopting 1-4 at this 29 time. 30 Commissioner Greene agreed with Commissioner Hamilton and Commissioner Bedford. 31 Commissioner McKee said before moving forward, there should be in person meetings 32 in various places across the county for the public to attend. 33 Chair Price said there seems to be no urgency to get this on the 2022 Ballot. She said 34 the report should be widely distributed and feedback gathered. She said the BOCC has heard 35 the desire for a change in the system for years. She asked if the Board wanted to sunset this 36 committee or use it for future discussions. 37 38 A motion was made by Commissioner Bedford, seconded by Commissioner Green, to 39 accept the Manager's recommendations 1-4. 40 41 Commissioner Fowler asked who the BOCC would use to gather more community input. 42 Chair Price said it would be staff. 43 Commissioner Greene said this can be decided at a future meeting. 44 Chair Price said, in short, it would be staff as this committee is being sunsetted. 45