The details
Fulshear is split in five district council seats with two at-large positions, according to its website.
Community Impact previously reported the city’s population growth has caused the number of people living within the districts to become uneven, prompting council member Joel Patterson to call for council and staff to discuss redistricting at the Oct. 15 meeting.
City Manager Zach Goodlander said districts are based on 2020 U.S. Census data, but he said Fulshear’s population has changed quickly and the city might redistrict as soon as 2025 without decennial census data.
Also of note
Patterson said he believes there’s no way to address redistricting without completely changing all five districts.
“They’ll have to all be redesigned,” he said. “Most likely, the member that is residing in that district will no longer be residing in that [new] district. ... It is going to be a big piece of work.”
Patterson, who represents District 4, said council voted to change his district’s boundary and District 1 to accommodate expected growth in 2020.
With officials expecting District 4 to be built out by next year, Patterson said he’d consider splitting the two districts in half.
“Maybe we take [District 4] and [District 1] and break them in half and have seven single-member districts and no longer two at-large districts,” Patterson said.
Goodlander said City Council could also attach geographical qualifications for one of the at-large positions to more evenly represent the population, per the city charter.
What they’re saying
- “Waiting until 2031 is too long,” council member at-large Jason Knape said. “I think we need to at least do it once in between [2020 and 2030]."
- “If we do it now, are we going to have to do it a couple of years later down the line because we have all these new residents that will be coming in District 1?” District 5 council member Abhijeet Utturkar said. “If it’s a matter of representation, ... we can address it [by] assigning the at-large position geographically.”
If the city moves forward with redistricting in 2025, the city will be required to redistrict again after the 2030 U.S. Census data comes out in 2031, according to the Texas Comptroller's office.
