Mineola wards to be redrawn

By Phil Major
publisher@wood.cm
Posted 12/9/21

For the first time since the city of Mineola adopted the ward system of city council districts in 1995, the boundary lines for the three districts will need to be changed.

The change is mandated by the 2020 U.S. Census, which found two of the three wards out of balance.

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Mineola wards to be redrawn

Posted

For the first time since the city of Mineola adopted the ward system of city council districts in 1995, the boundary lines for the three districts will need to be changed.

The change is mandated by the 2020 U.S. Census, which found two of the three wards out of balance. Ward Two in northeast Mineola has too much population while Ward Three in south Mineola has too little.

Ward One is almost the perfect size at 1,600 residents, according to the census. An ideal ward would have 1,610 residents.

The districts must stay within a 10% tolerance to remain in place, and the difference between the two wards is almost 35%.

A public hearing about the proposed changes is scheduled Wednesday, Dec. 15 at 5:30 p.m. at the Mineola City Hall council chambers.

Citizens can also register their comments on the city’s website, Mineola.com, where they can also find more information about the proposals.

The ward system of single-member districts was adopted to replace the at-large council positions, primarily to offer a better opportunity for minority representation.

As a result Ward Three has been represented by Black citizens since the system was altered.

Mitchell Tuck has served on the council since 1993. He was appointed that year and then earned election as the first Black council member in 1994. He was then reelected in 1995 under the ward system and has remained since.

Novada Bigham also served as a longtime Ward Three council member, replaced by Cassandra Sampson in 2020 after Bigham decided not to seek another term after 22 years.

The council will have a proposed redraw of the ward lines available at the hearing. They may also be found on the city website.

According to figures presented by the firm Bickerstaff Health Delgado Acosta, hired by the council to investigate the potential population changes, Ward Two has 274 too many residents, or 17.6% above the ideal, while Ward Three has 263 too few, or almost 17%.

One other significant change since the wards were adopted in ’95 is a four-fold increase in the Hispanic population.

When the ward lines were drawn, Mineola had 4,321 residents according to the 1990 census, with 3,263 white (75.5%), 792 Black (18.3%) and 247 Hispanic (5.7%).

The 2020 numbers have the White population at 64% (3,098), Hispanic at 22.5% (1,088) and Black at 9.3% (448). Other categories include Asian at 31, American Indian at 17 and 144 of two or more races.

In Ward Three, the Hispanic population has almost overtaken the White population at 35% compared to 36.6% while the Black population sits at 24%.

Ward One has 21% Hispanic, 71% White and 3.2% Black while Ward Two has 15% Hispanic, 78% White and 4% Black.

The city is working toward a goal of having the new lines in place in time for filing for the 2022 council elections, which will include one council member from each ward.

Filing begins on Jan. 19.