“If it does not pass, if it does not get a majority vote, it will be moved to a file that says Rejected Maps,” Perez said. “Anybody can always go in and pick up those maps, copy them, make their own map, and change it and own that map if they want to use it as a starting point.”

He added there would be “dozens and dozens” of maps that would move forward, but that eventually those maps will be narrowed down to one or two that will be presented to the county. 

Assistant County Attorney Shonda White explained that what's most important is that maps not appear to be racially or politically gerrymandered and that they meet the 10 percent population deviation threshold [the difference in how many people there are in each district]. She added that keeping incumbent commissioners in their districts was a “low priority” and anticipated that several officials would be moved out of their districts. 

As he began the presentation of his map, Arias emphasized that to create two new districts, every district “will lose 60,000 residents.” 

“That means we cannot avoid splitting some communities,” Arias said. “In my opinion, it will be impossible to maintain homogeneity across the entire county. It's just not going to be feasible or possible. I need this to stick in the public's head … Everyone is going to come up here and say, I want my community together, and I understand that and I love that, but it's not going to be possible.”

Arias’s map split Horizon West, Lake Butler, Meadow Woods, Belle Isle and Oak Ridge, which he said he couldn't avoid. He added that he wasn’t necessarily committed to his map and would be willing to adjust the map accordingly to “get the ball rolling.”

The map received little support from committee members during its extended discussion period. While Arias was recognized for submitting the first map, there was much opposition to how communities, like Horizon West, were divided in his proposal. 

“I think the residents of the communities I represent in District 1 would not support that because this is such a jarring deviation, I think, for what the intent is of drawing eight contiguous districts,” District 1 committee representative Bobby Olszewski said. 

District 1 committee representative James Auffant opposed the map’s restructuring of already-designated districts and said the map would be “forcing the unnecessary expense of having an election.” 

“I represent District 5, which you decided to call it now 8 — I don't appreciate that, but you did,” Auffant said. “You gave it the largest unincorporated area, it's the largest area. I know most of it is not developed, but with all due respect, I cannot support this map for that reason.

“Most important than anything else, I do not see why we have five majority white districts, one African American and two Hispanic,” Auffant added. “I'll say because I have nothing to hold back about that. So, with all due respect, Mark, I cannot support it.” 

Earlier in the evening, Timothy Ayers, past president of the Orange County Democratic Black Caucus and an Ocoee resident, said he opposed the Arias map as well as efforts to consolidate the “historic Western neighborhoods of Orlando with Pine Hills” as it would dilute Black voters’ voices and influence. 

Arias later said the committee and county needed to “come to grips” and decide if the districts should be split into particular communities or diversified, pointing to Pine Hills and its residents’ request to be unified into one district. 

“Do we want to keep all of Pine Hills together, which they have said that they do, or do we want to have a little bit more dispersed racial and ethnic type of districts?” Arias said. “Or do we want to have an all African American district and an all Hispanic district or an all white district? Take a look at the numbers. The numbers are about as even as they can be with the type of population that we have. Statistically pursuant to the numbers, this is on point.”

During the meeting, Janai McKissick, aide to State Rep. LaVon Bracy Davis, of Ocoee, read into the record a letter sent by the eight Democrats of the Orange County Legislative Delegation that “strongly encourage[d]” committee members to “ensure that minority communities are fairly represented” during the redistricting process. The legislators requested the committee include two predominantly Black districts as well as at least two predominantly Hispanic districts.

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Arias emphasized his map was created from a position of matching the 2020 census data and that no matter how the committee “cut [the] map numerically,” he considered it to be “sound.” 

“I understand that it's not a perfect map, it's a starting point,” Arias said. “ … I understand the objections. In fact, I'm working on a second map, but for the time being, I think that until something better comes along, it's not a bad map.” 

After his remark, Olszewski then made a motion to reject the map and some of its “jarring” recommendations.  

The motion to reject received a majority of approval from the committee with only two opposing votes, one of which belonged to Arias. As the meeting came to a close, Perez thanked members for their handling and discussion of the committee’s first map. 

“I very much appreciate the tone of the tenor of the comments tonight,” Perez said. “I very much appreciate the public being here and sitting through over three hours of this. It’s going to get longer and we're going to get through it and we'll tighten up the process.”

The committee will continue to hear from residents at the last stop of the committee's district tour on April 30 at the South Econ Recreation Center in District 3. 

Two maps submitted for approval by committee member J. Gordon Spears will also be discussed at the meeting. You can view the maps here.