Cedar Rapids council map must be redrawn

CEDAR RAPIDS - Census data show the current map that carves Cedar Rapids into five City Council districts with relatively similar populations is now out of whack, but the data shed light on post-flood migration.

Joel Miller, Linn County auditor and commissioner of elections, said the 2010 census shows stark population differences in District 3 - which straddles the Cedar River and includes the flood-hit areas of Czech Village, Rompot, The Flats, Oak Hill, Taylor School and a little sliver of Time Check.

“You lost (the population equivalent) of the city of Robins from Cedar Rapids District 3,” Miller said Friday. “Obviously, something happened down there.”

The city's population estimate used in early 2005 to draw up the map - which included annexations since the 2000 census - put 23,616 people in the area that became District 3. Voters that year agreed to a new city government with nine part-time council members, five elected in council districts.

The 2010 census counted 20,370 people in District 3, a loss of 10 percent.

Overall, Cedar Rapids' population grew 4.6 percent in the decade, from 120,758 to 126,326 - up 3.9 percent from the population estimate of 121,628 used in 2005.

The city's growth occurred most dramatically in southwest Cedar Rapids in an area that comprises nearly all of District 5. In 2005, District 5 was estimated to have 24,720 people; in 2010, 30,975, an increase of 6,255 people, or 25.3 percent.

The city's population remained nearly the same in District 1 in northeast Cedar Rapids west of Council Street NE, up just 187 people, from 24,603 to 24,790, or 0.76 percent.

The same was true in District 4 in northwest Cedar Rapids, which includes the flooded Time Check neighborhood. Population edged up by 149, from 23,889 to 24,038, or 0.62 percent.

In District 2 in northeast and southeast Cedar Rapids, the population grew by 1,352, from 24,800 to 26,152, or 5.5 percent.

The City Council will need to redraw the boundaries of its five council districts, so there is a reasonable deviation in population among them, Miller said.

By state law, the new district lines won't be applicable until Jan. 15, 2012, Miller said.

In November, three of the nine council seats are up for a vote - one of the at-large seats, as well as the District 2 and District 4 seats.

In drawing up maps, the districts must be as concise as possible, not include islands or odd boundaries and not cut through any of the 47 existing voting precincts in Cedar Rapids, Miller said. With the 2010 census figures, the ideal map would have 25,265 residents per district.

District 3 as now drawn has 4,895 fewer people than that, or a 19.4 percent deviation from the ideal, while District 5 has 5,710 more than the ideal, a 22.6 percent deviation.

Mayor Ron Corbett said the city likely will ask Miller to help draw a new map.

Miller also said Marion's ward map will need to change, as will the Linn County Board of Supervisors' district map.