City of Rochester releases proposed ward map

The City of Rochester is ready for the council to review the proposed boundaries for future ward elections.

The city released its recommended map on Monday following a community engagement process that included more than a dozen virtual events, during which the public offered feedback on four draft options.

Heather Heyer, a management analyst for the city, said the revised boundaries were necessary due to population increases reported in the latest census, particularly in Wards 1 and 3.

Proposed ward map / City of Rochester

The process, however, went beyond simply adjusting lines to ensure proportionate representation across the city’s six wards. Other considerations for redistricting included:

• Trying to minimize impacts to residents. The map being sent to council would affect 8.8 percent of the population, below the 10 percent threshold it had set as a maximum impact. The city also tried not to break up neighborhood associations into separate wards.

• Representation from BIPOC communities. Currently, only Ward 4 in southeast Rochester has more than 30 percent non-white residents. But with the new map being proposed by the city, Ward 6 in northwest Rochester would also achieve that target. Heyer said the League of Women Voters and other community groups had recommended having two wards that were at least 30 percent BIPOC.

• Anticipating future growth. "The wards that are slightly below the ideal population are Wards 3, 5 and 6, and we know those are the wards the are mostly like to have growth over the next decade,” said Heyer.

One detail not considered in the redistricting process, per city policy, was the residence of the six sitting ward representatives. Despite that, however, Heyer said it does not appear that any two current council members would wind up in the same district under the proposed map. (Had that been in the case, council members would still be allowed to finish out their term.)

The redistricting map now heads to the Rochester City Council for review on March 21. The council would then act on the proposed map during a special meeting three days later. If approved, the new ward boundaries would be in place in time for the August 9 primary.

An interactive version of the proposed map can be found here.

Sean Baker is a Rochester journalist and the founder of Med City Beat.