Supervisor district lines under review

A public hearing will be held Feb. 8 to receive input on a plan to redistrict Cerro Gordo County Board of Supervisor districts.  

The Supervisors met Tuesday, Jan. 25, to review a proposal which would change district boundaries.

Every 10 years, following each Census, all counties in Iowa must review their current county voting precinct boundaries to ensure they comply with current laws. The re-precincting process for the county and incorporated cities under 3,500 in population is done by the Temporary Redistricting Commission and voting precincts are then approved by the Board of Supervisors. The new voting precincts have been approved and the Legislative Services Agency (LSA) has drawn new Board of Supervisor Districts.

The LSA’s first proposal has supervisors Chris Watts and Tim Latham grouped into the same proposed District 2, which includes all of Mason City’s Third Ward, Ward Two Precinct Two, and Ward Four Precincts Two and Three. The rest of Mason City, as well as Plymouth, Rock Falls and the Lime Creek-Mason North and Falls townships are in the proposed District Three. The rest of the county, including Clear Lake, Ventura, Burchinal, Portland, Rockwell, Swaledale, Thornton, Meservey and Dougherty, are grouped into the proposed District 1.

Currently, districts for each Supervisor include a mix of rural and urban areas.  Under the first proposed plan one 

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district is predominately urban, while the others are rural.

The Supervisors can accept or reject the LSA’s first plan.  If the plan is rejected, the issue will go back to the LSA for development of a second proposal.  

According to County Auditor and Commissioner of Elections Adam Wedmore, if the supervisors approve the LSA’s first plan, elections would likely have to take place in all three supervisor districts this year despite Supervisors Latham and Watts being elected to four-year terms in the 2020 election.

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