Pierce County Council announcement.
At its Dec. 7, 2021 meeting the Pierce County Districting Committee took action to amend the final draft plan of proposed new boundaries for the seven Pierce County Council districts as presented by the Districting Master.
The changes included technical amendments proposed by the Pierce County elections division to correct discrepancies, and an amendment known as the “Leighton Amendment.”
The Leighton Amendment made changes to the boundary line between districts 1 and 2 to keep communities and precincts together, while still maintaining a variance below 2% as directed by the committee. The amendment was adopted in a 4-1 vote by the committee.
Under state law, the public now has seven days to review the amended map and provide written comment. Only written comment will be accepted on the amended maps. To provide written comment, the public can visit piercecountywa.gov/districting and use the form listed on the webpage. Comments must be sent using this form, otherwise they will not be part of the written record.
The committee canceled its regularly scheduled meeting Dec. 14, and instead is holding a special meeting Dec. 16, 2021 at 5:30 p.m. The committee could take final action on the map as currently amended at this meeting.
Under Pierce County Charter, the Districting Committee must adopt the districting plan within 15 days. If the districting plan is neither adopted nor modified within 15 days after submission, the plan is deemed adopted.
The map is official once it is filed with the Pierce County Auditor’s Office.
The public can attend the virtual meeting here or by calling 253-215-8782 and entering Webinar ID 963-5627-6700.
The amended final draft plan along with previous meeting materials can be found online.
How to view the boundaries: Click on the GIS map found here and under the “Theme Data Menu” header uncheck all boxes except the one labeled “Final Draft Plan”. Zoom in on the map to see the borders. To toggle between the current Council district boundaries and the proposed boundaries, check and uncheck the “Council Districts – Pierce County” label, which will allow users to compare boundary lines.
The Districting Committee was appointed in September and tasked with redrawing the seven Pierce County Council districts to equally distribute the county’s population based on 2020 Census data.
Additional information about the Districting Committee is outlined in Sections 4.40, 4.50 and 4.60 of the Pierce County Charter, including how the districts are drawn, formation of the Districting Committee, the appointment process, timelines, and the process for creation of the new district maps and their adoption.
