SPRINGDALE -- The City Council, working as a committee of the whole on Monday, considered new voting ward maps for the city.
Jeff Hawkins, executive director of the Northwest Arkansas Regional Planning Commission, developed four maps for the council to consider, but the council did not recommend one of the maps. They left that decision to the council's next regular meeting April 12
Map 1 and Map 2 keep the ward lines very similar to those currently in place, Hawkins said.
Maps 3 and 4 make the ward lines simpler by following bigger roads and not cutting neighborhoods. But three current Council members -- those in Position 1 whose seats expire this year -- would have to run for reelection from a different ward, Hawkins explained.
Council member Brian Powell would move from Ward 1 to Ward 3. Council member Amelia Williams would move from Ward 3 to Ward 4. Council member Mike Lawson would move form Ward 4 to Ward 1.
The Council must approve a map by April 26, said City Attorney Ernest Cate. Arkansas law provides a 90-day period for residents to challenge what the council approves.
The city wants that period to expire before candidates for City Council file for election Aug. 3-10, Cate said.
Current council members who change wards would still be considered incumbents in the November election and have their council titles before their names on the ballot, said Mayor Doug Sprouse.
Hawkins worked to keep two council members in each ward, based on their home addresses. City Council members serving until 2024 will not serve a new ward. And in no district would incumbent face incumbent for reelection, he said.
Springdale voters elect their council members at large, rather than voting just for those representing only the wards where they live, Hawkins explained. So the change of wards for any council members should be smooth, he said.
The boundaries for all levels of government are redrawn every 10 years, based on new population numbers from a census, Hawkins explained. The current ward boundaries for Springdale were set in 2012.
Council members at first glance liked the wards in Maps 3-4, thinking the clean lines would make the wards easier for voters to understand.
Council member Jeff Watson didn't see changing wards as a problem. "If they know us, they call us," he said.
Hawkins used census numbers to determine the 87,332 population he divided. This number includes the residents in the former Bethel Heights and other areas annexed into the city since the Census was taken, he said.
The federal courts have ruled ward populations can deviate no more than 10% from the others, he said.
On Map 1, Ward 1 shows the highest population of 22,582, with Ward 3 the lowest at 20,947.
Map 4 has Ward 2 at the highest with 22,564, and Ward 1 the smallest with 20,872.
Springdale voting wards
Ward 1
Covers the northwestern part of Springdale
Brian Powell, Position 1
Randall Harriman, Position 2
Ward 2
Covers the southeastern part of Springdale
Mike Overton, Position 1
Kevin Flores, Position 2
Ward 3
Covers the southwestern part of Springdale
Amelia Williams, Position 1
Jeff Watson, Position 2
Ward 4
Covers the northeastern part of Springdale
Mike Lawson, Position 1
Mark Fougerousse, Position 2
Proposed Changes
Mike Lawson would serve Ward 1
Brian Powell would serve Ward 3
Amelia Williams would serve Ward 4
Source: NWA Democrat-Gazette