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New preliminary Austin City Council district map approved

By FOX 7 Austin Digital Team
Published  September 17, 2021 6:09pm CDT
Austin City Council
FOX 7 Austin

AUSTIN, Texas - A preliminary map of the new Austin City Council district boundaries have been adopted.

The Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission (ICRC) commissioners will show the map to the public in the next round of public forums starting Saturday morning.

Beginning in July, the commissioners and their mapping specialist have spent eight hours in 12 public forums starting on July 15 through Aug. 27, discussing the mapping process and listening to public testimony. The ICRC hosted 105 attendees, listened to 48 speakers, collected 50 maps, over 100 emails and listened to two voice messages from the public, says the commission.

After hearing public testimony and deliberating proposed changes to the draft map, 12 commissioners voted to approve the preliminary map on Sept. 15.

The ICRC is set to host five forums for the public to view visualizations of the approved map and give their input:

  • Saturday, Sept. 18 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Gus Garcia Recreation Center at 1201 E. Rundberg Lane
  • Tuesday, Sept. 21 from 6-8 p.m. at Mayfield Cottage at 3505 W. 35th Street
  • Saturday, Sept. 25 from 1-3 p.m. at George Morales Dove Springs Recreation Center at 5801 Ainez Drive
  • Tuesday, Sept. 28 from 6-8 p.m. on Zoom (attendees can click here to register in advance)
  • Saturday, Oct. 2 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Travis County Community Center at Oak Hill at 8656 SH 71

After hearing from residents and reviewing public testimony from the five forums, the next step will be to discuss potential revisions, incorporate those revisions and vote on a proposed final map in October. The ICRC will present a draft of the final map at three additional public forums to receive input from the public. 

FOX 7 Discussion: Redrawing Austin City Council districts

Christina Puentes, chair of the Independent Citizens Redistricting Committee, joins Mike Warren to discuss the ongoing efforts to redraw the Austin City Council districts.

The commissioners will redraw the final map with public testimony during the last week of October, have another vote on the map and present it to the city council by November 1.

Anyone wanting to submit feedback directly to the commission about redistricting can email or write to: Housing and Planning Department, Attn: ICRC, P.O. Box 1088, Austin, Texas 78767.

Public input forums are recorded and made available after the meetings here and past meetings, agendas and map presentations can be viewed on the commission's website.

Interpretation and/or translation services will be available free of charge by advance request in Spanish, Chinese or Vietnamese. Those in need of these services can call 311 or email to request these services 48 hours in advance of a forum.
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