ROCKFORD (WREX) -
If you live in the City of Rockford chances are you could be in a brand new ward without moving. That's because aldermen have to re-draw boundaries. Just like at the state and federal levels, the law says the City of Rockford has to change its districts to reflect population shifts.
"Taking a look at the boundaries of the city you try to look where the future growth of the city is going to be. You try to make those the smaller portion of the population. And the larger population you know what is not going to grow, i.e. some of the ones that are landlocked," says Ald. Lenny Jacobson
Alderman Jacobsen is head of Rockford's redistricting sub-committee. He's worked on re-drawing the districts with two Republicans and two Democrats since October. Jacobsen says they tried to make as few changes as possible. But people are moving and the city annexed new property.
"We got more aldermen in the city proper area and I think that's a good movement for the city. Again, the city of Rockford, the downtown area is the heart and the hub of Rockford," says Jacobsen.
Jacobsen doesn't expect all the aldermen to be happy with the new boundaries. He says some have already expressed concern about losing certain areas. But the law says each district needs to have an equal number of people roughly 10,800.
"You can't go in and pick and choose. We have to do what the law says and the law says you need to redraw the map and keep the numbers right," says Jacobsen.
The redistricting committee will vote on the new map Tuesday night. If it passes out of committee, it will be read into the full council but would need to be laid over before a vote came.
