Apportionment Committee drawing district maps for elected County Commissioners
Were you aware the Midland County Apportionment Committee met at 1 p.m. on Sept. 29 in the County Board of Commissioners room to approve the 2022 Midland County Commissioner District Reapportionment map?
The purpose of the live ‘open’ committee meeting chaired by Republican County Clerk Ann Manary was, supposedly, to determine the number, boundaries and structure of future Midland County Commissioner districts based upon 2020 Census data.
By law, county apportionment commissions establish county commissioner districts in Michigan every ten years following the federal government’s official decennial census of the U.S. population.
This year the County Reapportionment Committee consists of Midland’s Republican county clerk, Ms. Manary; Republican county treasurer, Catherine Lunsford; Republican county prosecuting attorney, J. Dee Brooks, and the elected chairs of both the Midland County Democratic and Republican parties.
County apportionment commissions ordinarily have 60 days to complete their task of redrawing the county commissioner districts.
The countdown clock begins when the committee officially receives the census data from the secretary of state. (That date is in dispute!)
If not completed by the deadline (whatever it is), the apportionment committee may apply to the state appeals court for additional time. If the issues are not settled by the original or extended deadline, any voter in the county may submit a reapportionment plan to the commission. The Midland County Reapportionment Committee would then be obligated to select, within 30 days, one of those plans that meet the legal requirements.
Per the Michigan Association of Counties, “the commission must adopt rules of procedure and conduct its meetings under the provisions of the Open Meetings law. All of its documents and other material, too, are open to the public under the state’s Freedom of Information Act. Three members constitute a quorum. Decisions are made by majority vote of the commission.”
Here’s simple, easy-to-understand example of Michigan’s reapportionment timeline process published online by the Washtenaw County Apportionment Commission:
• June – August, 2021: Organizational meeting and planning discussions
• September, 2021: Receive official US Census Bureau population data, hold public hearings, draft maps & plans
• October, 2021: Hold public meetings to consider draft maps & plans
• By November 15, 2021: Adopt final plan
Supposedly, anyone interested in providing comments regarding the redistricting process in Midland County could do so in person at any one of the multiple public reapportionment meetings the five member group has previously conducted – or scheduled – so far.
That’s assuming, of course, that both current and future members of the VOTING public in Midland County even know about them. A newly registered 18 year-old elector will be the ripe old age of 28 the next time county commissioner reapportionment is “openly” discussed in Midland.
According to Ms. Manary, she issued a press release to the local media and legally posted the required public meeting notice outside her office located in the Midland County Administration Building, 220 W Ellsworth St in downtown Midland a couple weeks ago.
Apparently, to be involved in the reapportionment process in Midland requires that all 69,861 registered voters in the 528 square-mile county would either have to: 1) subscribe to the local newspaper or 2) travel to downtown Midland everyday to scour the bulletin board outside the clerk’s office in the administration building looking for meeting news, schedules, updates and minutes.
Ms. Manary told the dozen or so attendees at the Sept. 29 meeting that her department doesn’t have the time, manpower or budget resources required to post meeting information on the county website, county community calendar, in the monthly county newsletter, or on the county’s social media communication channels.
The newly updated Midland County Events calendar, however, shows the Midland County Reapportionment Committee is currently scheduled to meet on Wednesday, Oct. 6 between 1 to 2 p.m. to finalize and approve the Commissioner District maps for Midland County.
Additional dates have also been scheduled, Oct. 8 at 9 a.m. (this meeting will be held if maps are not approved on Oct. 6) and Oct. 20 at 1 p.m.
Still confused by the little known County Commissioner reapportionment process currently being pursued in Midland County?
Click on this link and read the guidance the Michigan Association of Counties recommends be used to reapportion commissioner districts every ten years.
Eric Anders is a citizen of the City of Midland.