11-09-2021 5:07pm

Washtenaw County Commission Districts Set - No Changes for Saline

The Washtenaw County Apportionment Commission approved a Reapportionment Plan for nine County Commissioner districts that will be in effect through 2032, beginning with elections to be held in 2022.

See the map in the attached PDF

The county’s Apportionment Commission has worked to approve a reapportionment plan since US Census data was published in August, 2021. The plan adopted on November 8, 2021 makes modifications to the existing nine districts currently in place.

Saline will continue to be part of a southwest Washtenaw district that includes the cities of Saline and Milan (in part), the village of Manchester, and the townships of Saline, York, Lodi, Bridgewater, Manchester, Sharon and Freedom. District 3 is represented by Shannon Beeman.

The approved plan meets statutory criteria which requires that:

All districts shall be single-member districts and as nearly of equal population as is practicable. The latest official published figures of the United States official census are used in this determination.
All districts shall be contiguous.
All districts shall be as compact and of as nearly square shape as is practicable.
No township or part thereof shall be combined with any city or part thereof for a single district, unless such combination is needed to meet the population standard.
Townships, villages and cities shall be divided only if necessary to meet the population standard.
Precincts shall be divided only if necessary to meet the population standard.
Residents of state institutions who cannot by law register in the county as electors shall be excluded from any consideration of representation.
Districts shall not be drawn to effect partisan political advantage.

County Clerk/Register Lawrence Kestenbaum was chair of the Apportionment Commission

"Washtenaw County’s population grew by percent since the last census, but that growth was widely shared among all of our communities. As a result, we were able to maintain almost the same districts, with minor changes. This represents strong continuity and minimizes dislocation of voters. The districts remain simple, clear, and aligned with natural boundaries," Kestenbaum said.

The statutory members of the Washtenaw County Apportionment Commission are Larry Kestenbaum, Clerk/Register of Deeds; Catherine McClary, County Treasurer; Eli Savit, Prosecuting Attorney; David Frey, Washtenaw County Republican Party Chairperson; and Chris Savage, Washtenaw County Democratic Party Chairperson.

Kestenbaum said the commission had the ability to divide the county into as few as five or as many as 21 districts. He said some urged the commission to increase the number of districts, to increase the size and diversity of the board. Kestenbaum said he proposed a 15-district plan. In the end, the nine-district plan gained the support of the commission.

More information including meeting minutes, recordings, and all proposed plans can be found at Washteaw.org/Apportionment.