Lee County to hold public meetings for input on County Commission redistricting

The Lee Board of County Commissioners announced on Tuesday that it will begin holding public meetings for input on the county commission’s redistricting process.

State law requires that each county meet every 10 years, after the completion of the U.S. Census, to examine the need for redistricting. Currently, in Lee County, members of the County Commission are elected by countywide voters. Yet, they are seated, across five districts, according to which district they live in.

The Board of County Commissioners has launched a website that includes maps, data and information, all in the name of transparency, so that Lee County residents can understand the redistricting process.

There are four public meetings, including three public hearings, on the redistricting process. Some of these are part of the regularly scheduled Board of Commissioners meetings. The meeting schedule is as follows:

• Tuesday, Oct. 5 – Public hearing to review preliminary map options

• Tuesday, Nov. 2 – Public hearing to review map options

• Tuesday, Nov. 16 – Public hearing to adopt new map

• Tuesday, Dec. 7 – Item on the Lee Board of County Commissioners agenda to certify for transmission to the Florida Secretary of State

County Commissioners meetings are held at the old Lee County Courthouse located at  2120 Main St., Fort Myers, FL 33922. Meetings begin at 9:30 a.m.

Lee County Commissioners say the goal of redistricting is to reassess and/or readjust the population in each district so that no single district has substantially more residents in it.

If the commission decides to readjust district boundaries, that can only be in an odd-numbered year. And, given the late release of 2020 U.S. Census data, what is normally a 10-month will be condensed to just four months.

For more information from the Lee County government, including meetings notices and agendas, you can go to this website and sign up for the newsletter.