By Jason Stuart
Ranger-Review Staff Writer
City officials appear to have decided on a new boundary line between two of the city’s wards in an effort to make the wards more even heading into this November’s city elections.
The city Ordinance Committee met Monday afternoon and decided to recommend moving the boundary between Ward 1 and Ward 3 from its present location at Allard Street up to Clay Street, bringing much of the Prospect Heights neighborhood into Ward 1.
Mayor Jerry Jimison began looking into the process of changing the city’s ward boundaries following the 2015 city election, during which it became evident that the population of the wards had grown out of balance, with Ward 3 having nearly double the number of registered voters as Ward 1.
Working with Dawson County elections administrators, Jimison found that the size of municipal wards must be based off of total population, not registered voters. Using county data, they were able to roughly break down the population in each ward.
To bring Ward 1 and Ward 3 close to an exact balance, Jimison said county officials suggested moving the boundary north to Dilworth Street, then following along Prospect Drive to Merrill Avenue.
Jimison, however, proposed moving the boundary a bit further north to West Ames Wye, arguing that it’s almost certain that the bulk of any future population growth is likely to occur in Ward 3, just as it has since the Bakken oil boom began.
Ordinance Committee members suggested moving the boundary even further north to account for future growth in Ward 3, and Jimison said there were several viable options. Councilman Doug Baker first suggested Clay Street, noting that it cuts “pretty much straight across” the Prospect Heights neighborhood.
“Basically, what we have to do is divide Prospect Heights, and yeah, there’s two or three different streets that would do that,” Jimison said.
With that, committee members adjourned from the council chamber to the hallway, where they huddled for several minutes discussing the options. After several minutes, the group returned, having settled on Clay Street as the new boundary.
“It’s going to be Clay Street,” said committee chairman Leon Baker.
The committee will also recommend extending the Ward 4 boundary north to Allen Street, which is the street that connects Merrill Avenue with N. Anderson via the underpass.
The full city council must vote to amend city ordinance to change the boundaries between the wards. The council will vote on moving the boundaries at their Jan. 17 meeting.
Reach Jason Stuart at rrreporter@rangerreview.com.