The new boundaries for the six Bloomington city council districts are now settled for the 2023 city elections.

On a 5–4 vote at a special meeting on Thursday, the city council adopted a map that was recommended by a five-member redistricting advisory commission.
The inclusion of two “central” districts, which don’t touch any non-city area, is a feature of the new map that makes it different from the one that was adopted in 2012, which included just one central district.
The map adopted in 2012 has served for the last two city elections, in 2015 and 2019.
The task of drawing new city council districts comes at least every 10 years, in the second year following the decennial census, so that the population of districts can be balanced out.
On the newly adopted map, the prominence of the 3rd Street boundary between Perry Township and Bloomington Township is evident, which is another feature that makes it different from the 2012 map.
The new map falls just one precinct short of dividing the city perfectly along the line between Perry and Bloomington townships.
Along with the two central districts, the map features four districts that touch the periphery of the city, bordering on non-city areas of the county.
Six of the nine Bloomington councilmembers are elected by voters in a geographic subset of the city—that is, a district. The other three councilmembers are elected by all city voters. They’re often called “at-large” members.
Thursday’s 5–4 split decision on the new map came along familiar lines. The majority was made up of Susan Sandberg, Dave Rollo, Ron Smith, Jim Sims and Sue Sgambelluri. The four dissenting votes came from Matt Flaherty, Kate Rosenbarger, Isabel Piedmont-Smith and Steve Volan. Continue reading “Now settled: New district boundaries for Bloomington city council 2023 elections”