Utah redistricting group holding public meeting in Layton
Tim Vandenack, Standard-Examiner
Betty Sawyer of the Ogden branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People addresses the Utah Legislative Redistricting Committee at a gathering of the body at Union Station in Ogden on Thursday, Sept. 9, 2021.LAYTON — The debate over redistricting in Utah is coming to Layton.
The Utah Independent Redistricting Commission, or UIRC, is holding a public meeting on Friday in Layton to give the public a chance to speak out on the issue. The gathering — the only one in Davis County and the closest one to Weber County — will be at Layton City Hall, 437 N. Wasatch Drive, and it starts at 6 p.m.
The UIRC is the independent body tasked with coming up with redistricting proposals for the Utah Legislative Redistricting Committee, the body that’ll actually present a plan to lawmakers for formal consideration. Both bodies have been holding public meetings across Utah in recent weeks to get feedback on the redistricting process.
“Utahns can participate first-hand in the redistricting process for the first time in the state’s history via these vital public meetings and through UIRC’s new interactive website,” UIRC spokesperson Austin Isbell said in a statement.
Redistricting happens every 10 years based on the decennial U.S. Census Bureau headcounts. Population shifts from 2010 that have emerged in the 2020 count require reworking of boundaries for U.S. House, Utah House, Utah Senate and other political districts to make sure the numbers of people stays about the same.
Given shifts since 2010, officials have said, Utah County is on track to gain in representation because of higher-than-average population growth there. Weber and Salt Lake counties, meanwhile, are on track to lose, at least marginally, because, while growing, they haven’t expanded as rapidly.
The Utah Legislative Redistricting Committee held a meeting in Ogden on Sept. 9 to gather input. A big focus of the discussion was whether the city of Ogden should be divvied among six Utah House Districts.
The UIRC will present its proposed new political boundary maps to the Legislative Redistricting Committee on Nov. 1 for consideration. Lawmakers will be drawing new political boundaries for the state’s four U.S. House districts, the 29 Utah Senate posts, the 75 Utah House seats and the 15 Utah State School Board seats.