2021 Fairfax Redistricting Committee Sets First Meeting

Burke VA

21 July, 2021

5:31 PM

Description

FAIRFAX COUNTY, VA — The Fairfax County Redistricting Advisory Committee will meet for the first time as it is tasked with recommending boundaries for redrawing the Board of Supervisors and School Board districts. The 20-person committee was appointed by the Board of Supervisors in June ahead of a mandated redistricting process that happens every decade with new Census data. The process will decide the boundaries for Board of Supervisors and School Board districts to ensure Fairfax County residents are fairly represented in county government. The committee can begin work on redrawing the maps once Census data is received. The estimated arrival of 2020 Census data is mid-August. The first meeting on July 27 will focus on state and federal legal requirements for redistricting, the county's social and racial equity policy and the committee's bylaws. It will be held at 6 p.m. at the Fairfax County Government Center, 12000 Government Center Parkway, Conference Room 232, Fairfax, VA. The public can attend the meeting. The timeline adopted by the Board of Supervisors calls for the committee to draw proposed districts from Aug. 30 to Sept. 17. The Board of Supervisors will schedule a public hearing for Nov. 9, where the committee's recommendation for the electoral boundaries will be presented. The Board of Supervisors will consider adopting the ordinance on redistricting the electoral boundaries on Dec. 7. If approved, the county attorney will submit the adopted redistricting plan to the Virginia attorney general for certification on Dec. 21, and redistricting would be complete after state certification on Feb. 20, 2022. The current boundaries of the Board of Supervisors and School Board districts were established in 2011. A county demographic report identified the following populations as of January 2020: Braddock: 124,820Dranesville: 128,611Hunter Mill: 133,781Lee: 125,733Mason: 116,549Mount Vernon: 133,380Providence: 146,200Springfield: 125,437Sully: 137,336Committee members include representatives of the nine current Board of Supervisors districts; at-large members; representatives of the African-American, Hispanic, Asian/Pacific Islander community and Arab-American communities; and representatives from the Federation of Citizens Associations, League of Women Voters, Northern Virginia Chamber of Commerce and Northern Virginia Labor Federation. For more information, visit the redistricting advisory committee website.