County Council adopts new redistricting map under shortened timeline. What’s different?

Beaufort County has new political maps, unanimously approved by the County Council this week, that reconfigure Hilton Head districts, putting Gullah neighborhoods mostly together, but also move two council members and two school board members into different districts.

Every 10 years, political district lines are redrawn to reflect the most recent U.S. Census, an often controversial process known as redistricting that local and state lawmakers undertake. A spike in population south of the Broad River over the past 10 years, as shown in the 2020 Census, means Bluffton and neighboring areas will get more representation on the county boards.

Because of the pandemic, the process of conducting the 2020 Census was shortened to four months from the usual nine, and people complained that not everyone was counted.

Under map 3A, approved Monday:

• In districts north of the Broad, District 1 would mostly stay the same but would reach further south into Laurel Bay. A portion of Baynard Road would go to District 5. District 3 would expand into what was formerly District 2, taking almost all of the islands east of the Harbor River and keeping Parris Island. District 2’s County Council member, Paul Sommerville, would keep the northernmost point of Harbor Island.
• South of the Broad, the new map will shift Bluffton neighborhoods on the Buck Island/Simmonsville corridor and Old Miller Road/Stony Creek community to District 9.

County Council Chairman Joe Passiment will move from District 6 in Bluffton to District 5, which is mostly south of the Broad but also encompasses the western edge of Beaufort. District 5 Councilman Brian Flewelling moves into District 4 north of the Broad and will have to decide whether to run against District 4 council member Alice Howard.

Two school board members will move to new districts. Richard Geier moves from District 5 to District 4, and Angela Middleton moves from District 6 to District 5.

From Nov. 24 to Dec. 13, the county held three public meetings and offered a redistricting website with videos, key documents and an interactive map. The public could also submit comments through the website.

According to those online comments, residents were concerned about not having adequate time to reflect and comment on the proposed maps. At a public meeting on Hilton Head Island, members of the Gullah community expressed concern about the first two maps splitting their 14 neighborhoods.

Dan Morgan, Beaufort County’s director of mapping and applications, took the comments and created two new options, 3A and 3B.

“The feedback was tremendous and helped the county staff to focus on neighborhoods street by street and make sure we get this right,” said Morgan. “We feel we were able to preserve the one person, one vote yet improve the grouping of communities’ interest with the help of the public.”

Maps 3A and 3B made a concerted effort to keep the 14 Gullah neighborhoods together, keeping 12½ of them in District 10 and the other 1½ in District 11.

County Council then chose map 3A because it had the most equal populations among the newly drawn districts. They adopted the map option following a committee meeting and three readings where the public could have continued to provide further comment.

The county maintained that the process had to be done quickly in order to meet the March deadline set by the state of South Carolina.

How does redistricting work?

Redistricting happens every 10 years and reflects census data. Multiple criteria must be met, including having near equal populations in each new district, not discriminating based on race and ethnicity, and keeping the districts compact.

The process usually takes nine months. However, the county did not receive the census data until September, where usually they would’ve received it between April and June according to Morgan, the mapping director.

This census was Morgan’s third and, he said, one of the toughest redistricting efforts.

To see if your district has changed, check the county’s redistricting website.