MONROE - Green County may soon see district lines redrawn due to increased population in some areas.
Shifting political boundaries could reduce the number of city wards by one and create a new district in the northeast part of the county.
A public forum on a tentative redistricting plan will be held at 2 p.m. Tuesday, April 19 in the first conference room at the court house.
The Green County Reapportioning Committee discussed an initial 2011 redistricting plan Tuesday, April 5.
The Tentative 2011 Redistricting Plan, City of Monroe tentative map, Green County tentative map and the Green County Population Comparison sheet are on the Green County website for citizens to view.
As of March 21, the committee had 60 days to develop a plan, hold a public hearing and adopt a tentative County Supervisory District Plan.
The committee goal is involving municipalities to create a plan to be adopted by the county board May 10.
Green County has grown by 9.5 percent, or 3,195 people, since the 2000 census.
Most of the growth occurred in four townships, Exeter, York, Albany and New Glarus, as well as in the Village of Belleville.
The county has 31 supervisory districts and by state law can not add another, so redistricting is the alternative.
The committee is proposing to change the districts in the City of Monroe, which could affect the city wards, allowing for only nine wards instead of the current 10.
"We have no way of keeping 10," Michael Doyle, Green County clerk, said. "We have to shift gears a little bit."
The county supervisor district that could be eliminated is the current district four, County Supervisor Randall Iverson's district. The area is located just east of the downtown area, and corresponds to the city's Ward 4, Alderman Jan Lefevre's ward.
Under the redistricting plan, Iverson would be co-supervisor with Michael Furgal, in the new District 6 - corresponding to a new Monroe city ward 6.
Eleven towns in Green County would remain intact to make up one district each. Two towns, Exeter and Brooklyn, would go from two to three supervisory districts.
Doyle said one of the redistricting goals is to create compact districts that follow municipality boundaries as closely as possible to make the municipal clerks' jobs easier.
"Wendy (Tschudy, deputy county clerk) and I put the best plan together for Green County," Doyle said.
According to City Clerk Carol Stamm, Monroe's city wards were originally created to match the county supervisory districts.
Stamm and City Administrator Phil Rath said differing boundaries for county districts and city wards create problems, not the least of which are ballot printing expenses and election programming expenses.
Mayor Bill Ross said the council will have to meet to discuss the changes. Five newly elected aldermen take office April 19.
For more information contact the county clerk's office at (608) 328-9430 or visit the Green County website at www.co.green.wi.gov. Maps can be found on the county's website, under "Resources/Directories" tab link.
- Tere Dunlap contributed to this story.
Shifting political boundaries could reduce the number of city wards by one and create a new district in the northeast part of the county.
A public forum on a tentative redistricting plan will be held at 2 p.m. Tuesday, April 19 in the first conference room at the court house.
The Green County Reapportioning Committee discussed an initial 2011 redistricting plan Tuesday, April 5.
The Tentative 2011 Redistricting Plan, City of Monroe tentative map, Green County tentative map and the Green County Population Comparison sheet are on the Green County website for citizens to view.
As of March 21, the committee had 60 days to develop a plan, hold a public hearing and adopt a tentative County Supervisory District Plan.
The committee goal is involving municipalities to create a plan to be adopted by the county board May 10.
Green County has grown by 9.5 percent, or 3,195 people, since the 2000 census.
Most of the growth occurred in four townships, Exeter, York, Albany and New Glarus, as well as in the Village of Belleville.
The county has 31 supervisory districts and by state law can not add another, so redistricting is the alternative.
The committee is proposing to change the districts in the City of Monroe, which could affect the city wards, allowing for only nine wards instead of the current 10.
"We have no way of keeping 10," Michael Doyle, Green County clerk, said. "We have to shift gears a little bit."
The county supervisor district that could be eliminated is the current district four, County Supervisor Randall Iverson's district. The area is located just east of the downtown area, and corresponds to the city's Ward 4, Alderman Jan Lefevre's ward.
Under the redistricting plan, Iverson would be co-supervisor with Michael Furgal, in the new District 6 - corresponding to a new Monroe city ward 6.
Eleven towns in Green County would remain intact to make up one district each. Two towns, Exeter and Brooklyn, would go from two to three supervisory districts.
Doyle said one of the redistricting goals is to create compact districts that follow municipality boundaries as closely as possible to make the municipal clerks' jobs easier.
"Wendy (Tschudy, deputy county clerk) and I put the best plan together for Green County," Doyle said.
According to City Clerk Carol Stamm, Monroe's city wards were originally created to match the county supervisory districts.
Stamm and City Administrator Phil Rath said differing boundaries for county districts and city wards create problems, not the least of which are ballot printing expenses and election programming expenses.
Mayor Bill Ross said the council will have to meet to discuss the changes. Five newly elected aldermen take office April 19.
For more information contact the county clerk's office at (608) 328-9430 or visit the Green County website at www.co.green.wi.gov. Maps can be found on the county's website, under "Resources/Directories" tab link.
- Tere Dunlap contributed to this story.