The city has scheduled several community meetings throughout El Paso to get feedback on new voting boundaries for the eight City Council districts — a process done once every 10 years.
The meeting schedule offers in-person meetings as well as virtual options. Participants attending the meetings in person are urged to wear face coverings. The meetings are scheduled from Jan. 27 through Feb. 10.
The process to redraw voting boundaries for elected officials at the local, state and federal levels is done following the release of decennial U.S. census data. The new boundaries for the eight city representative districts will be redrawn to reflect changes in the city’s population.
The population of the city of El Paso in 2020 was 678,815, according to data released in August — a 5% increase over the prior census in 2010.
Growth was heavily concentrated in East, Northwest and Northeast El Paso. Five of the eight districts saw population declines between 2010 and 2020.
The population of City Council District 5, in parts of far East El Paso, grew by 47%, by far the largest growth of any district.
The community is encouraged to submit map proposals for the redistricting commission to consider. Ten maps have been submitted so far from the commissioners, the public and the League of Women Voters.
The city’s Shape EP website includes details about the process, the current City Council district boundaries, map proposals and a link to Dave’s Redistricting — a site to create district boundary recommendations for the commission to consider.
Public in-person community meeting schedule:
Meetings begin at 6 p.m. and attendees are strongly encouraged to wear face coverings.
Thursday, Jan. 27: Mission Valley Regional Command Center, 9011 Escobar Drive.
Monday, Jan. 31: Gary Del Palacio Recreation Center, 3001 Parkwood St.
Tuesday, Feb. 1: Memorial Senior Center, 1800 Byron St.
Wednesday, Feb. 2: Marty Robbins Recreation Center, 11620 Vista del Sol Drive.
Monday, Feb. 7: Hilos de Plata Senior Center, 4451 Delta Drive.
Wednesday, Feb. 9: Northeast Regional Command Center, 9600 Dyer St.
Thursday, Feb. 10: Westside Regional Command Center, 4801 Osborne Drive.
Simultaneous virtual and in-person meeting:
Thursday, Feb. 3, 6 p.m.: In-Person: Blue Flame Building, 304 Texas Ave. Virtual: click here to access the WebEx Link; phone: (408) 418-9388 or (844) 992-4726
Virtual meeting hosted in partnership with the El Paso Neighborhood Coalition:
Tuesday, Feb. 8, 6 p.m.: Virtual: click here to access the Microsoft Teams link; phone: (915) 213-4096; code:120 083 695#
Auxiliary community meeting with City Council representatives:
Tuesday, Feb. 8, 6:30 p.m.: Virtual: click here to access the Microsoft Teams link; phone: (915) 213-4096; code: 935 064 418#
