SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO AM) You can't get more grass roots than the newly appointed Sioux Falls Districting Commission that held its first meeting on Monday.
Members are all unpaid citizen volunteers. City Planner Jeff Schmidt told them the five voting districts must be re-adjusted because of the city's significant population growth. He outlined just one challenging example.
"Northeast has 30,000 and Northwest has 38,720. There is not equal representation here in 2017."
City Clerk Tom Greco gave the citizen commissioners their marching orders. They must redraw the five districts to fairly equalize the number of people in each district, like fitting five newly shaped pieces into the puzzle. Their work is expected to wrap up in early fall.
The citizen commissioners are:
James Fry—Southwest District Jason Wierenga—Southeast District Mark Millage—Northwest District Jeffrey Eckhoff—Northeast District Debra Elofson—Central District
City Attorney Dave Pfeifle welcomed them aboard.
"We appreciate your service. You are great folks to be doing this on a volunteer basis and you will be helping the city immensely for years to come."
Redistricting last occurred in 2011. At that time, the population was 153,888; in January of this year, the City announced a current population estimate of 178,500, an increase of more than 15%.