Now that Houston's population has exceeded 2.1 million, it has to add two new city council districts, but a dispute exist whether this should be done now, or after the next census. No one knows exactly where the new residents live, or their ethnicity. From the Chron:
Houston has had more than 2.1 million people since 2006, according to population estimates the city has been using in official documents. To create new districts and change boundaries, however, the city would have to use detailed population estimates for specific tracts of land, city officials said. Though demographers are assumed to estimate the overall city population accurately, the only accurate tract-level data would have to come from the 2000 Census.
Redrawing district lines now would, in effect, be based on almost 10-year-old data, said Jerry Wood, a former city planner and redistricting expert. He noted that the city went through redistricting in 1982 and 1985, based on dated census figures. The estimates used those years were shown to be wrong in the 1990 Census, Wood said.
That possibility, and any lawsuit that could stem from it, led City Attorney Arturo Michel and Chief Administrative Officer Anthony Hall to advise the mayor against redistricting now.
“I have no doubt that our actual population exceeds the threshold number, but there are substantial legal issues about whether federal law allows us to draw districts based on guesses about where people live,” White said.
“Obviously, when we do this, it’s going to be a contentious issue, no matter when we do it,” added City Councilman Ron Green. “So, we want to make sure we do the best possible job, and the only way to do that is if you have the most reliable data.”
Redistricting advocates hearken back to 1979, when the city was under fire from the Justice Department for an election process that was unfair to minorities. As part of a settlement, officials said, the city created nine single-member council districts and five at-large seats. It also agreed to add two districts once the city crossed the 2.1 million threshold.
