- April 23, 2024
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Dennis Cross, a candidate for District 3 of the Palm Coast City Council, will be eliminated from contention if the City Council adopts the proposed changes based on the 2010 Census.
As City Manager Jim Landon and the Palm Coast City Council discuss the proposed district changes in Palm Coast, District 3 candidate Dennis Cross takes notes on his clipboard — he does so at each meeting he attends.
At the May 31 City Council workshop, there was no change in Cross’ routine, despite the possibility that he might not even be able to run when the city elections occur later this year.
Palm Coast City Charter requires that the four districts be reevaluated after the U.S. Census data becomes available. The districts must be redrawn with approximately equal population before the next election.
Most municipalities aren’t affected because their elections are in even years, following the state and federal election cycle. The four districts, which originally were drawn to equally divide the population in 2003, are now outdated: District 2 now has 11,922 people living in its boundaries in the northeast part of the city; District 3 has 23,947 living in the southeast — including Grand Haven. The target for the Redistricting Commission was to have each new district have about 18,795 people, plus or minus 5%.
Based on a May 26 Redistricting Commission meeting, Cross has been crossed off the list of candidates because his district will be changed. A Grand Haven resident, Cross was in District 3 previously but will now be in District 2, if the recommendations are approved by the City Council. District 3 seat is up for grabs this fall; District 2 is not.
“My first reaction is that this is being rushed,” Cross said May 31 in an interview after the City Council workshop.
Cross also said it was difficult for him to believe that a group that had never worked together before was able to select a chair and vice chair, analyze the data and reach a decision at its first meeting — all within 52 minutes.
“My past experiences on committees and in business are that first meetings usually are when all the alternatives are discussed,” Cross said.
The five-member Redistricting Commission unanimously approved alternative No. 2.
Palm Coast City Manager Jim Landon agreed it’s not ideal to redraw the lines so close to the election — and after some candidates have already filed to run — but the city doesn’t have any other options.
The changes in the zones also require some candidates to have more petitions signed.
“Talk about a poor process,” Landon said May 31. “This is a good reason not to have elections on odd-numbered years.”
Another issue Cross questioned was that there were three alternatives that didn’t eliminate any candidates; however, the group decided on Alternate No. 2, which eliminated him.
The Redistricting Commission will meet again 2 p.m. June 2, at the Community Center, and Cross plans to attend the meeting and protest.
“One of the criteria that the city gave was political fairness,” Cross added. “If there were two or three other viable alternatives that did not eliminate a candidate — regardless of who the candidate is — that should be sound criteria for this.”
