37.4 F
Reno

City begins redistricting for sixth ward

Date:

The City of Reno is beginning its redistricting process to add a sixth ward with a community meeting planned for June 1 at 6 p.m. The meeting will be at City Hall, with a virtual option for those who can’t attend in person. 

The redistricting will reapportion the city’s five wards to add a sixth ward. The new structure will eliminate the at-large member of the city council and replace the position with a ward six representative. 

Reno City Council members on May 11 set the redistricting principles, which include ensuring the new wards are geographically contiguous and nearly equal in population. Neighborhoods with common interests are to be kept together as well. 

Each existing ward will lose about 8,500 individuals to the new ward. 

Flow Analytics, an outside consulting group, is working to create the new ward maps. The city brought the company in to serve as a neutral third party in the process. 

Any residents, regardless of age, can participate in the redistricting forums or submit comment or their own draft maps through an online public portal that will open following the June 1 meeting.

The city’s redistricting comes six years after the Nevada Legislature in 2017 passed a law requiring a sixth ward to be created by Jan. 1, 2024. That law came into effect after a recommendation by the city’s Charter Committee. 

That committee, in 2022, reversed the recommendation and suggested the city work to amend the law to remove the sixth ward requirement. 

The city did just that, supporting Senate Bill 12 during the 2023 legislative session. That bill received an icy reception from legislators and public commenters and failed to advance out of committee.  

More information on the redistricting process and the community forum are online at Reno.gov/Redistricting

Kristen Hackbarth
Kristen Hackbarth
Kristen Hackbarth is a freelance editor and communications professional with more than 20 years’ experience working in marketing, public relations and communications in northern Nevada. Kristen graduated from the University of Nevada, Reno with a degree in photography and minor in journalism and has a Master of Science in Management and Leadership. She also serves as director of communications for Nevada Cancer Coalition, a statewide nonprofit. Though she now lives in Atlanta, she is a Nevadan for life and uses her three-hour time advantage to get a jump on the morning’s news.

TRENDING

RENO EVENTS

MORE RENO NEWS

Another $75,000 approved to fight Brekhus lawsuit against City of Reno 

Reno City Council members on Wednesday approved an additional $75,000 to cover the costs for legal services from the Dickinson Wright law firm in a lawsuit brought by Council member Jenny Brekhus.