- April 25, 2024
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The Flagler County Commission and Flagler County School Board agree on how to redraw county electoral district lines to account for the latest census data.
The two elected board met in a joint meeting on Oct. 5 to discuss the redistricting process required under Florida law every 10 years after census results are released. The process is designed to smooth the population differences between different electoral districts.
"The goal here is really to preserve the principle of one person, one vote, making sure that each district has as close to the same number of persons as possible," County Administrator Heidi Petito said at the meeting.
Both county commissioners and School Board members are elected countywide, so new district boundaries won't affect who can vote for which candidate. They might affect which seat candidates run for in the future, but the district's can't, by law, be redrawn in a way that would draw current elected board members out of their own districts.
For the joint meeting, county staff met with school district staff and came up with three proposals for district changes that would even out population differences and keep each district's overall population with a few percent of the others.
Board members were presented with ballots listing all three, and selected the one they preferred. For six of the eight elected officials present, that was Option C, which would enlarge the geographic area of districts 1 and 5, shift the coverage area for District 3, leave district 2 as-is and slightly shrink District 4.
The two dissenting votes were for Option B, which was similar but would have slightly enlarged District 2 as well. Two board members — School Board member Cheryl Massaro and County Commissioner Joe Mullins — were absent.
The public can comment on the proposed new district boundaries at the County Commission meeting at 5 p.m. Oct. 18 or the School Board meeting at 6 p.m. Oct. 19.
The redistricting process must be completed by the end of December.
