Escambia County, school board narrow down redistricting map. Here are key takeaways

Escambia County commissioners and school board members on Tuesday night workshopped a final draft of redistricting maps based on 2020 census data, a tight-deadlined endeavor that saw commissioners negotiating neighborhoods by race, thoroughfares and keeping neighborhoods whole.

Redistricting is a process where governments redraw district lines to ensure that their populations are equally divided as they grow and change over time, which is why they’re based on census data.

Tuesday was the second joint meeting of the Escambia County School District board and County Commission following the first in October. Officials are on a tight deadline because they received census data later than expected and need to have the maps approved by the Dec. 2 commission meeting, while also ensuring there are multiple public hearing dates before then.

Escambia County redistricting:: First draft puts Perdido Key in District 1

Race: Preserving Pensacola's 2 majority Black districts presents challenge to redistricting

The commissioners workshopped boundaries drafted at the last workshop to bring each of the five voting districts as close to an even split — which would be 64,381 residents each — as possible. That map is expected to be voted on at the county’s Thursday night meeting. The school board has a special meeting to talk about the redistricting maps Wednesday night.

Here are the key takeaways from the three-hour workshop Tuesday night:

Race plays a critical role in districting, but it's not court-ordered anymore

Amid discussion about District 1 Commissioner Jeff Bergosh giving District 3 Commissioner Lumon May a portion of his predominantly Black neighborhoods in exchange for May’s predominantly white neighborhoods, county attorney Alison Rogers said a court order from the 1980s that commissioners thought was mandating their decisions was no longer in effect.

The McMillan v. Escambia County decision launched a court order by which the county needed to ensure there is a certain percentage of minority voters within certain districts, and much of the discussion Tuesday was to ensure May would retain a “majority minority” in District 3.

Rogers said that while the McMillan court order has expired, the concept is still ingrained in state and federal law to ensure that districts are not deliberately racially diluted so much that minority residents don’t have a voice.

Commissioner Doug Underhill expressed his concern about dividing up neighborhoods by Black and white residents and assuming they swayed a certain way politically.

“I’m deeply troubled by the idea that we’re making it a point in 2021 to (put) all the Black people in town in one area. ... If you put all the Black folks in one district, you can pretty much assure there’ll be one Black commissioner and you’ll also pretty much assure there’ll never be two,” he said.

Bergosh interjected at that point to reference the McMillan case, saying there’s a court order the commission must follow, which prompted Rogers’ clarification.

“Otherwise there’s not one of us up here that would ever do this,” Bergosh said, before learning the order was not in effect.

Still, the commissioners and school board members went on to divide the borders of District 3 to ensure it remained a minority majority district per May’s request.

“It’s the real reality, they vote party line, religion and race, and Doug, I concur it’s sad but it still exists,” May said. “I represent all people but I do understand the equality and equity of making sure you have representation by the constitution of our people, so that’s why it’s very important to get these districts a minority majority district.”

Perdido Key will likely become part of District 1

The wealthy beach community of Perdido Key, currently under District 2, will likely become part of the fast-growing District 1 that encompasses a large swath of the western side of the county including Beulah.

Perdido discussion: Escambia County Commission clashes over redistricting boundaries for District 1 and 2

In the brief public forum part of the agenda, two members of the Perdido Key Association expressed their concern that the community will be lost in the fast growth to the north in their likely future district.

Resident Mae Dean said the community’s needs largely surround waterways, which she worries will be overlooked with the explosive growth Beulah has seen.

“To split up District 2 is heartbreaking to me,” she said. “We have nothing in common with Beulah and our greatest asset in Escambia County is our waterways.”

District 1 once included Perdido Key and much of the current District 2 area, according to News Journal archives.

Underhill, who currently represents District 2, said he wanted to give more consideration to future growth patterns and permitted developments that aren’t yet populated, as that will likely increase the District 1 population in coming years, but Rogers said the commissioners need to rely on primarily the current census data available, not future growth.

District 2 school board member Paul Fetsko suggested a map with boundaries following major roads to make it easier for voters to understand their districts.

“If we really are looking at major arteries where someone could say ‘I live west of Blue Angel Parkway, I’m in this district’… it makes sense,” he said. District 1 school board member Kevin Adam and Bergosh said while that did make sense, there are other factors to consider like the demographics and populations of the areas that don’t work in that proposal.

Fetsko used the example of neighborhoods like Myrtle Grove that are split by district, which can make it difficult for communities to come together and push for certain issues.

Underhill agreed and wanted more consideration to go into keeping neighborhoods whole, using Brownsville as an example. That neighborhood is split between his and May’s district because Cervantes Street, a major thoroughfare, runs through it.

“I think that it’s very important that we keep those communities together in their representation because it’s going to be one of the driving factors in volunteerism and activism,” he said.

Escambia County's commission meeting begins at 5 p.m. Thursday and the school board's special meeting begins at 5:01 p.m. Wednesday.

Emma Kennedy can be reached at ekennedy@pnj.com or 850-480-6979.

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Escambia County redistricting workshop: Key takeaways from final draft