New County Districts Proposed – Important Public Meeting April 5

Three Walla Walla County redistricting map options will be available for public review and comment on Tuesday, April 5, at the commissioners’ second floor meeting room, 314 W Main, Walla Walla. People may view the maps starting at 4:30 pm. A workshop for reviewing the proposed maps will begin at 5:30 pm. Time will be allotted for public comments, and you also can submit written comments. To access the 5:30 meeting virtually, see the agenda for the meeting link and other information.

There are three voting districts from which county commissioners and Port commissioners are elected. Each district must have as close to 20,861 people as possible or 1/3 of the county's total population as of the 2020 US Census. The new maps will be the basis for elections for the next ten years. 

Two of the options are similar to the current boundaries, with adjustments to balance population growth primarily on the west side of the county. At present, each of the three districts is a mix of rural and urban populations.

The three new district proposals:

• Proposal A is most similar to current boundaries. 
• Proposal B is also similar but with changes that make the districts more compact (particularly District 1). 
• Proposal C differs from the other two options as it creates an urban district that captures most of the central urban core. The other two districts do include portions of Walla Walla and College Place but are otherwise rural. This is the only proposal that provides a dedicated urban district.

The opportunity to comment on these map options may be limited to Tuesday's workshop.  Please come!

The map the commissioners select will be published Monday, April 11, at a regular 10:00 am county commissioners meeting; it also should be published in the Union-Bulletin and on the county's website. Public comment on this final map will be at a public meeting Monday, April 25 (the same time and place as on the 5th). 

The commissioners will ultimately approve the final map on May 2nd.

Please contact Kari Isaacson at wwcodemsredistricting@gmail.com if you have questions or concerns.

Maps are now available online.

Public comments will be accepted until 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday, April 6. Please send your comments to the general commissioner email address: wwcocommissioners@co.walla-walla.wa.us