By Kyle LoJacono
The newly approved district lines for the Hillsborough commission have not even taken effect yet, but the county is discussing an overhaul of how the board is structured.
Currently, the seven-member commission includes four people elected to represent specific geographic areas, and only residents within a district are eligible to vote for that representative. The final three seats are filled by at-large selections picked by the entire county.
Commissioner Les Miller, whose District 3 includes most of central Tampa, proposed having five people represent specific areas and two at-large members.
“I think this county has grown to a point where we need to make some changes,” said Miller, one of two Democrats on the commission.
Miller said there have been two major changes in the county during the last 30 years, when the current structure was established, that make a different setup needed.
The first is the explosive population growth in Hillsborough during the last decade. U.S. Census data shows Hillsborough gained 230,278 residents since 2000, up to 1.2 million. Each commissioner that represents a geographic district now speaks for about 307,000 people.
“It makes sense to split that up a little bit,” Miller said. “It’s getting to the point where it’s impossible to fairly represent each district.”
The other change is an increasing number of Hispanics living within Hillsborough. In 2000, 18 percent of county residents were Hispanic versus 24.9 percent now.
Miller said having a fifth zoned district would allow it to be drawn in such a way to make its residents primarily Hispanic, which he said would make it more likely to have more minority representation.
Miller, who is black, is currently the only minority on the county commission. His District 3 is designated as a minority district by the federal Voting Rights Act and must maintain at least 58 percent minority population to be in compliance.
The Census reports 16.7 percent of Hillsborough’s population is black versus 24.9 percent that is Hispanic.
Several Hispanic civic groups called for the new county district primarily composed of such voters but were unsuccessful and the new alignment was approved this summer.
“We’re definitely not happy, and we won’t be happy until we get some fair representation with a Hispanic member on this board,” said Victor DiMaio, president of the Hillsborough County Hispanic Democratic Caucus. He added his group is planning to formally challenge the new district lines with the U.S. Department of Justice.
At-large Commissioner Mark Sharpe said it would have been impossible to have a so-called “Hispanic district” and not break other laws.
“We couldn’t create four districts while staying in compliance with the Voting Rights Act and keep the districts similar in population,” Sharpe said. “A fifth geographic district might have changed that.”
The members voted to explore changing the structure by getting public input. At-large Commissioner Ken Hagan warned against making any drastic changes so soon after agreeing to the new district lines, which take effect for the 2012 voting cycle.
“I just think we need to go cautiously and move slowly on this,” Hagan said.
At-large commissioner Kevin Beckner, the only other Democrat on the board, also wants people to remember why the current structure was set up 30 years ago.
At that time, three of the then-five commissioners, who were elected only by the people living within a district, were arrested for attempting to sell votes to various groups within their boundaries.
The current system allows all residents to vote for four of the seven members, which was thought to ensure that a majority of the commissioners will consider all county residents and not just those within a certain district.
Neighboring Pasco County’s commission differs in that it has five members who represent certain districts. However, all residents are able to vote for who makes up the board regardless of where they live.
In order for the idea to move forward in Hillsborough, five of the commissioners would have to vote for changing the structure. If approved, county residents would have the final say on their ballots next year. The new format could not take effect until 2014.
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