County creates commission to redraw political lines
The Hays County Commissioners Court voted to move forward with the creation of the Citizens Advisory Commission on Redistricting (CACR).
The court voted unanimously to create the commission during Tuesday’s meeting. The advisory commission will include both the county Republican and Democratic party chairs as well as a nominee from each member of the commissioners court. Four of the court’s five members nominated a person to serve on the commission.
County Judge Ruben Becerra sought to create the commission in an effort to make the redistricting process transparent, ensure that the community has a voice and reduce the number of people who reach out to Steve Floyd in the county’s Geographic Information System Department.
During Tuesday’s meeting, Becerra said the citizens of Hays County must do everything they can to work together during the redistricting process.
“We don’t have to agree on everything,” Becerra said. “If we did, we would be clones. But at least there should be a baseline, a civil level of sincerity around the foundation of our country for crying out loud — ‘With liberty and justice for all’.”
The commission will meet to help redraw electoral district boundaries, using data gathered from the 2020 U.S. Census. The commissioners court will give final approval on new districts.
The court decided that each member would get one appointment on the CACR as opposed to two.
Becerra selected Shannon FitzPatrick as his appointment, saying “I know she is a former prosecutor. I know she is level headed. I know she is of the people, for the people. I know she is, (with) everything in my heart, is what we need out of this commission.”
Commissioner Precinct 1 Debbie Ingalsbe selected Ruben Garza as her appointee. “The reason why I want to appoint him judge and I’ll just share is because he served on a previous redistricting committee in 2000 and I believe he has knowledge of the process and would be helpful,” Ingalsbe said, adding that Garza has had health issues and she would pick Vanessa Westbrook as her second choice.
Commissioner Precinct 4 Walt Smith chose Steve Meyer as his appointee. Commissioner Precinct 2 Mark Jones picked John Ambrose as his appointee.
Commissioner Precinct 3 Lon Shell said he would bring his selection back to the court during the June 22 meeting.
“I’m brutally honest with people and I want them to know exactly what they’re volunteering for and if they are not comfortable with doing that then I want to find someone that is,” Shell said.
The court said it wants the CACR to meet in public with meetings to be held in different areas in the county to increase engagement in the redistricting process.
Prior to the vote, Hays County General Counsel Mark Kennedy said he’d bring a draft charter to the next meeting.
“What I’ll try to do is I’ve been taking notes on what you want,” Kennedy said. “I think we probably need some more procedural detail in the charter as well. So, I’ll try to provide something that I think works with what you’ve put out there today and bring it back and then you all can modify it as needed.”