Proposed Council District Maps to be Presented Wednesday

If you're looking for a case study in the messiness of democracy, look no further than Elk Grove's redistricting process.

With five city council districts set to shrink to four and the selection of Elk Grove's first popularly-elected mayor on the horizon, the legally-mandated remapping of council districts based on 2010 Census results has .

Redistricting Partners, the consultant hired by the city to referee the potentially-contentious process, held in which any resident could sit down and draw a disrict map for consideration. And draw they did: 27 options were submitted and published on the city's website.

(By comparison, the consultants note in their report, only 11 members of the public participated when Sacramento redrew its district lines in 2001.)

But on Wednesday, the tough decisions begin. Consultants will present the city council with four maps that they think best meet the goals of creating districts with roughly equivalent populations and keeping important communities together. We've attached them here.

Consultants say one of the most common concerns they heard from residents was how to ensure representation of the rural area on the east side of town.

Of course, another underlying subtext is how the new maps will affect the chances of Councilmembers Steven Detrick, Sophia Scherman and James Cooper, who are all up for reelection in fall 2012, the first time the new districts will apply.

The presentation will take place during the council's regularly scheduled meeting at 6:00 p.m. in City Council Chambers, 8400 Laguna Palms Way. Council members hope to adopt a final map in July.