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Of the 15 maps submitted during the county's redistricting process, seven made the cut.
The final map was approved by the Orange County Mid-Decennial Redistricting Advisory Committee during its August 6 meeting at the Orange County Administration Center.
Now the committee, tasked with presenting the Board of County Commissioners with a few options for how the county’s six existing districts could be re-divided into eight to provide more representation on the commission, shifts into the next phase: amending the maps and narrowing the choices.
Discussions to amend accepted maps will take place Aug. 12, Aug. 18 and Aug. 28.
Before the evening's map presentations began, residents from Tildenville, located in District 1, took the opportunity during the public comment period to correct the record and throw their support behind David Washington’s Map 2, which has been accepted by the committee.
At the committee’s July 9 meeting, Erica Jackson, a committee member representing District 1, voted against Map 2, stating that Tildenville residents told her they wished to stay in District 1. Map 2 would move the tiny historic Black community into District 2, but keep it with the other older municipalities, like Winter Garden, its neighbor two miles to the east; Oakland and Ocoee.
“We have not asked anybody to speak on our behalf,” said one resident, adding that Tildenville was willing to trade losing Nicole Wilson its commissioner to stay with the older municipalities.
Tildenville community leader, Rose Henderson, said Map 2 would “solidify a way of life for a community that is struggling to stay small and yet relevant. It separates us and keeps us from being eaten up, so please consider my area no longer tied to the area known as Horizon West.”
VoxPopuli reached out to Jackson for comment at her committee email, but as of press time had not received a response.
Jason Henry, a committee member with one map approved already, had two more sponsored maps — Henry-2 and Henry-3 — to be reviewed by the committee.
Henry said the maps were similar, that they just reflected different voices from the community. While the Henry-3 Map had public support, it was the Henry-2 Map that swayed the committee.
The Henry-2 Map — labeled Map 7 on the Orange County redistricting site — splits Orlando and 19 voting precincts. It notably does not split any communities of interest, reflecting a repeated request by Pine Hills residents to be unified in a single district, in this case a new District 7.
The Henry-2 Map would keep Winter Garden, Oakland, Windermere, Horizon West and Tildenville together in District 1 and maintain Ocoee in District 2. (The mayors of Ocoee and Winter Garden have petitioned the committee to be put together in the same district because they share common interests.)
The Henry-2 Map would also establish Hispanic pluralities in Districts 3, 4 and 8 and Black pluralities in Districts 6 and 7. Plurality districts include a demographic that is just shy of a majority but can still influence an election when joined by voters from other demographics.
Submitted by Orange County resident Jenni Nguyen, the Henry-2 Map was a collective effort produced by community members of various demographics, said co-mapmaker and Orlando resident David Caicedo.
“It was of the utmost importance that we centered fairness and common sense throughout the process of creating this map,” Caicedo said. “We made sure that neighborhoods were able to not be split up and that they actually received equal representation.”
The map’s presentation was led by fellow mapmaker Seven Charlestin, a Pine Hills resident and the founder and executive director of Las Semillas, a grassroots mutual aid organization also known as The Seeds of Pine Hills.
“We made this map in the thought of fairness and especially for community members in District 6,” Charlestin said. “Our map is a variant of Auffant’s as well. We thought that there were some improvements we could make in [some] areas, especially in District 6.”
While Auffant expressed his support and said he found the map “compact enough,” others like committee member Tom Callan and co-chair Tico Perez said they still favored Henry’s first map.
“I saw the plurality chart on page four of this map — 38 percent for [the Black population in] District Six raises a concern I have,” Callan said. “I think Map 1 is our version of this. I still think it suffers from some things that need to be fixed on it.”
The map passed with a 10-4 vote, with committee member Mark Arias absent. It was the only map of the seven presented to survive the committee’s deliberations.
With the acceptance process over, committee members must now narrow the choices of the maps to be sent to the Orange County Board of County Commissioners by Sept. 15 for final review. County commissioners will then host a work session and public hearing to vote on the submitted maps to choose and adopt a new county district map.
“It’s time for the culling,” said Tico Perez, the committee co-chair.
The committee has not yet determined the final number of maps to send to the county. During 2021 redistricting effort, the advisory committee sent two. The committee will hold a public hearing and vote during its final meeting Sept. 3 to make its recommendations.
See the rest of the approved maps below.
Aug. 12
Aug. 18
Aug. 28
All meetings take place at 6 p.m. in the Board of County Commissioners Chambers at the Orange County Administration Center at 201 South Rosalind Avenue. Meetings are also live-streamed on Orange TV.
