New district map favors incumbent Democrats on St. Clair County Board, opponents say
A map setting new boundaries for St. Clair County Board districts was approved 18-9 by the board Tuesday night after residents and Republican board members complained that it favors Democrats who currently hold a majority of seats.
During a public hearing before the vote, no one spoke in favor of the map while about 10 people opposed it. Many in the audience of about 30 people applauded some of the speakers who criticized the redistricting map.
In the the county board meeting held after the hearing, Republican board members spoke against the plan, while no one offered a defense.
A federal lawsuit challenging the St. Clair County Board redistricting process is pending and residents who offered a barrage of complaints about the map now hope their voices will be heard in court.
Many of the residents who criticized the map on Tuesday also spoke out against it during a Nov. 8 meeting, when the map was released by St. Clair County Board Chairman Mark Kern.
The opponents were upset that the map presented Tuesday night did not contain any changes based on the complaints raised last week.
District 7 Republican board member Ed Cockrell, who is one of plaintiffs suing the county, said the redistricting map “is a total affront to the taxpayers of St. Clair County.”
“I do think it’s gerrymandering 101,” he said.
Kern, a Democrat, did not comment during Tuesday’s meeting but last week he said it was “a fair map.”
Kern noted that the map has 28 districts, which is down one from the current 29, since the county lost population between 2010 and 2020.
He also noted this would save the county money. Each county board member receives about $20,000 a year. You can see how much all county employees earn by checking the public pay database at www.bnd.com/publicpay.
If saving money was the point, Cockrell said the county should have cut out four or five districts.
The map approved Tuesday was a revised version of a map released earlier this year. The latest one is based on population numbers released by the U.S. Census Bureau in August while the previous map was based on population estimates.
The 2020 census data showed a drop of roughly 3.8% in population since 2010 in St. Clair County. Republicans argue much of the population is shifting away from the Mississippi River and areas like East St. Louis and Belleville and further into communities like O’Fallon and Mascoutah.
How they voted
The 18-9 vote for the map was mainly down party lines with all Democrats except for one supporting the plan, while all Republican board members present cast “no” votes.
There are currently 29 county board members with 19 Democrats and 10 Republicans.
Curtis McCall Jr. of District 25 was the lone Democrat to vote against the map.
Republicans Stephen Reeb of District 13 and Matt Smallheer of District 18 were absent.
Here are the 18 Democrats who voted for the map: Robert Allen Jr. of District 1; C.J. Baricevic of District 10; Marty Crawford of District 24; Willie Dancy of District 3; Jerry Dinges of District 11; Ken Easterly of District 8; Steve Gomric of District 17; Scott Greenwald of District 28; Susan Gruberman of District 12; Harry Hollingsworth of District 2; Richie Meile of District 23; Jana Armstrong Moll of District 19; Lonnie Mosley of District 5; Roy Mosley Jr. of District 6; Ken Sharkey of District 27; Scott Tieman of District 26; Robert Trentman of District 14; and C. Richard Vernier of District 9.
Here are the eight Republicans who voted against the map: Rick Casey of District 29; Ed Cockrell of District 7; John Coers of District 15; Kevin Dawson of District 20; Dave Langford of District 16; Michael O’Donnell of District 22; Dean Pruett of District 21; and Robert Wilhelm of District 4.
You can see the map on the county’s website and a copy of it accompanies this article.
Complaints against redistricting map
Republican board member Kevin Dawson of District 20 said he was “frustrated” by the way the map divides Mascoutah.
“I can’t vote for this map the way it changes Mascoutah in terms of representation.”
Michael Butler of O’Fallon argued against this map, saying it unfairly divides townships and cities into multiple county board districts.
“I think there’s a lot of problems with this map,” Butler said during a public hearing shortly before the county board voted.
Butler alleges the county is violating state law that says townships and cities should be divided “only when necessary.”
He noted that Precinct 12 in Caseyville is divided into six county board districts in this map.
“I think it’s a blatant violation of this statute,” Butler said of the map.
After the hearing, Butler said he thinks if the map goes into effect that it could result in the number of Republican seats being reduced from 10 to nine.
Kern did not address issues raised in the public hearing but he did say that the map released last week was not modified before the vote on Tuesday night. He was responding to a question by Mary Thurman of Shiloh.
Thurman said the map is designed to boost the incumbents of the “majority party.”
“It’s an obvious plan,” she said.
This story was originally published November 17, 2021 at 9:33 AM.
