Two Districts or Five? Kendall County Board Expected to Vote Tuesday Night

Kendall County Board members could choose among three new district maps Tuesday night, finishing the redistricting process that is designed to realign political boundaries in light of new census data.

The proposals would keep 10 members on the board. Those 10 members could continue to come from two large districts -- or five smaller districts.

Supporters of the five-district map say that county board members today represent far too many residents to serve them effectively. Under the two-district system, each board member represents roughly half of the the more than 114,000 residents in the county. 

Critics say board members cannot accurately represent the interests of such a large group of people spread out over such a diverse array of rural and urban areas.

Those who prefer a two-district map say that the current system actually gives voters more power. If residents can convince the five county board members representing them to side with them on contentious issues, they can block a vote they don't support.

People won't be able to do this if they are only represented by two board members, say supporters of the two-district system.

The debate might be settled -- at least officially -- at the county board meeting that starts at 6 p.m. Tuesday. Two board members, though, are expected to miss the meeting at the county's headquarters building, 111 W. Fox St. in Yorkville. The vote might be postponed.

Meanwhile, supporters of the five-district plan -- with two county board members representing each district -- are holding out little hope that board members will vote their way.

Chrisi Vineyard, an Oswego resident and president of the Kendall County Democratic Women, said she thinks that most board members have already made up their minds, meaning they want to stick with the current two-district system.

"I think they are going through the process to make people think that they are open-minded about this issue. But actually, they are not," Vineyard said. "I'll go and speak before the vote. But I know that they've already made up their minds. It's depressing but you just have to move on."

The county board's redistricting committee passed along three proposals. (A map of the five-district proposal is attached to this article as a PDF.)

One is five districts, while the two two-district maps doesn't differ much. In one version the village of Lisbon sits in the first district, while in the other it resides in the second.

Robert Davidson, a Kendall County board member representing the county's First District, said that he'll be supporting one of the two two-district versions when the board eventually votes, though he wasn't sure yet which one.

His reasoning was simple: He says that the two-district format gives voters more say on important issues. Five districts, he says, would needlessly complicate county government, making it more difficult for board members and county officials to get work done.

"I look at other counties that have more districts than we do, and they can't get anything done," Davidson said. "We have our house in order here in the county. We are not spending money we don't have. We get work done here.

"So I haven't heard anyone tell me why the five-district version would be an improvement. If people don't like the way I vote, they can vote me out of office in little more than a year. Then I can go back to enjoying life."