PORT ANGELES — The Clallam County Districting Commission is expected to select one of three possibilities for redrawing the boundaries of county commission voting districts as its preferred alternative at 1 p.m. Monday.
The five-person commission will review the three options presented at public hearings on Nov. 11 and Nov. 18, review the public comments from the hearings, discuss the three options using the county’s charter criteria and choose a plan.
Chair John Teichert said the panel will finalize the plan Dec. 13 with a majority vote plus one before sending it on to county commissioners Mark Ozias (District 1), Randy Johnson (District 2) and Bill Peach (District 3).
This meeting can be viewed via live stream at http://www.clallam.net/features/meetings.html. To participate via Zoom video, go to https://zoom.us/j/875561784, by Zoom audio only, call 253-2125-8782. The meeting ID is 875 561 7844 and the passcode is 12345.
Questions and public comments can be sent to the board clerk at 360-417-2256 or agores@co.clallam.wa.us.
Every 10 years the commission meets to re-draw district lines based on population growth or decline.
The three alternatives the commission has presented are:
• Alternative 1 — Switch Port Angeles Precinct 106 — population 1,204 — to District 3, continuing a trend from 10 years ago when District 3 gained Port Angeles District 2 voters. District 3 would remain the county’s second-largest commissioner district. It lies in the vicinity of Hurricane Ridge Road in south Port Angeles.
• Alternative 2 — Move District 1’s Lost Mountain Precinct west of Hooker Road, population 750, to District 2. The maximum percentage difference: 3.51 percent. District 2 would become the second-largest commissioner district.
• Alternative 3 — Move District 1’s Lost Mountain Precinct and Riverside Precinct, which is contiguous with Lost Mountain Precinct, population 1,031 residents, to District 2. The maximum percentage difference: 2.18. District 2 would become the second most populous district.
Clallam County has grown significantly over the last 10 years, from a population just above 71,000 to one just above 77,000, with no signs of slowing down in the next decade.
The criteria in Section 7.40 of the Clallam County Charter are:
• Districts shall be approximately equal in population so that the population of the largest does not exceed that of the smallest by more than 5 percent.
• Districts shall have boundaries that run generally north-south.
• Districts shall be geographically compact and continuous.
• Districts shall be composed of whole voting precincts to the maximum extent possible.
The charter can be found at http://www.clallam.net/bocc/documents/2020Charter_000.pdf
For more about the Clallam County Districting Commission, see https://www.clallam.net/bocc/DistrictingCommission.html
