Buda City Council approved the first draft of new council districts on March 20 as part of the city’s transition to single-member districts before the November 2018 elections. During last November’s elections, Buda residents voted to amend the city’s charter to transition from the current at-large format to six single-member districts with an at-large mayor. Council voted in January for even-numbered council member seats to be the first to transition to single-member district seats. Council members Wiley Hopkins in Place 2, Paul Daugereau in Place 4 and Evan Ture in Place 6 will be the first to switch to districts A, B and C. The single-member district position replacing the Place 2 seat will carry a one-year term; Place 4 a three-year term; and Place 6 a two-year term to ensure staggered elections of the seats. Using geocode utility data points to calculate the number of households per block, the city multiplied that figure by the average number of people per household to get an estimate of Buda’s 2018 population. From there, the city used the information to draft the new district lines. Residents can either send written public comments regarding the redistricting plan to the Buda city clerk or attend a public hearing either April 3 or 17 at City Hall. Buda City Council will adopt the official districting plan during its May 15 council meeting.