The House and Senate Redistricting Committees met jointly on August 30th to discuss the census data. We made the decision that the population of each district must fall within 5% (plus or minus) of the goal population of 25,333. This means the population of each district must be within 24,066 and 26,600. The next decision was to use conurbation districts for Rapid City and Sioux Falls. This means that the area around each town will be sectioned off from the rest of the state map and smaller subcommittee will work on drawing the districts within these areas. We will decide on the actual lines for the conurbation areas at our next meeting on September 9th. I have been appointed to the Sioux Falls subcommittee along with Rep Jon Hansen, Rep Kent Peterson, Sen Jim Bolin, Sen Kyle Schoenfish, and Sen Casey Crabtree.
As the only committee member who lives within the City of Sioux Falls, I want to be a voice for Sioux Falls residents. Please reach out to me with any questions, suggestions, or map ideas at bethany.soye@sdlegislature.gov. You can also get more information at https://sdlegislature.gov/Redistricting/Home.
Below are the current proposed conurbation districts for Sioux Falls. I believe the "Split Rock Creek" option is best for the Sioux Falls area. This map allows us to consider all of Minnehaha County together along with the Lincoln County communities that touch or nearly touch Sioux Falls. The total population of this area is 259,219 and would be spread over 10 districts. This would provide a population deviation of only 889 or spread over 10 districts only 89 people. Thus the 10 districts would be essentially equal in population. Let me know what you think about this map and the other options listed below.
You can also draw your own map at https://davesredistricting.org/maps#home and send it to me.
