Photo by Joe OlivieriThe first eight members of the Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission take their oaths of office May 31.
The group that will draw Austin's new voting districts has completed its first task—appointing its remaining members.
The Austin city charter called for the Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission to be created in two steps.
First, a three-person Applicant Review Panel chose eight commissioners at random from a pool of 60 qualified applicants May 22.
The first eight are:
Magdalena Blanco
Rachel Farris
William Hewitt
Arthur Lopez
Mariano Diaz-Miranda
Carmen Llanes Pulido
Anna Saenz
Maria Solis
The first eight were then required to appoint six more members to round out the 14-member group. The six needed to be chosen "to ensure that the commission reflects the diversity of the City of Austin" including racial, ethnic and gender diversity, according to the charter.
One member had to be a student enrolled in a community college or university and at least three members should come from each Travis County commission precinct.
The first eight came from the following precincts: two from Precinct 1, one from Precinct 2, none from Precinct 3 and five from Precinct 4.
On June 7, the ICRC selected two commissioners—
Ryan Rafols (student), Precinct 3
Catherine Cocco, Precinct 3
On June 13, the ICRC selected its remaining four members—
Henry Johnson, Precinct 1
TJ Costello, Precinct 2
Harriet Harrow, Precinct 2
Stefan Haag, Precinct 3
