Redistricting Cibola County

CIBOLA COUNTY, N.M. — The Cibola County Board of Commissioners recently met for a 5 p.m. regular commission meeting on Thursday, Nov. 18, and a 3 p.m. special commission meeting on Monday, Nov. 22.

For the Thursday, Nov. 18 regular commission meeting, all commissioners were present, and the agenda was approved after two modifications. The board had to remove a redistricting presentation given by Research & Polling Inc. employee Steve Cabiedes due to highway construction preventing Cabiedes from being able to show. Therefore, item 10.a of the agenda, “Selection of Commission Redistricting Plan Based on the 2020 Federal Census,” was also removed from the agenda. An executive session was removed as well.

With these items removed, the Board of Commissioners were able to swiftly move through the agenda, approving six of the remaining agenda items. Those items included 10.b “Direction to Staff to Publish the Title and General Subject Matter of a Local Economic Development Act Ordinance,” 10.c “Consideration of Quad Event Alcohol Application Permit for February,” 10.d “Consideration of Resolution 21-62 Transfer of Dump Truck to the City of Grants,” 10.e “Consideration of Resolution 21-63 Authorizing the Auction of Vehicles and Equipment currently utilized by the Sheriff’s Department,” 10.f “Consideration of 21-64 FY22 Budget Adjustment Number 2,” and 10.g “Consideration to approve requisitions over $20,000[:] a. 2021 Durango-Melloy Dodge-Manager’s Dept.-$32,480[;] b. Paramedic Level Cardiac Monitor-Fire Marshall-$24,850.55.” As for the Monday,

As for the Monday, Nov. 22 special commission meeting, the purpose of the meeting was to have Research & Polling Inc. employee Steve Cabiedes come and give his redistricting presentation so that the board could approve a redistricting plan for Cibola County. Chairman Daniel Torrez, Commissioner Ralph Lucero, and Commissioner Robert Windhorst were present in person, while Commissioner Christine Lowery and Commissioner Martha Garcia were present via a Zoom video call. The redistricting presentation and a “Consideration of Resolution 21-65 Adopting a County Commission Redistricting Plan Based on the 2020 Census” were the only items on the agenda.

Cabiedes started off by giving the commission a bit of background information about Research & Polling Inc. According to Cabiedes, the company has many years of experience in doing the research necessary to create redistricting plans for different counties and areas. Cabiedes also explained a little bit about redistricting and why it is necessary. First of all, redistricting is a constitutionally mandated practice that must occur every 10 years, using data and research from the most recent census to guide the process. Just like the census operates, everyone is counted during restricting, not just registered voters, and individuals are counted at the place they sleep and spend most of their time.

Cabiedes also went over what he said were the principles of redistricting: equal population, minority voting rights, compactness, contiguity, and communities of interest. These are all factors Cabiedes said must be taken into consideration when redistricting, to ensure that no district has too much more or less people that the other districts, that each district has an appropriate amount of representation as far as minority groups go, and that the districts are compact and borders are not strung out in odd directions. Cabiedes brought up a case from 1991 in which an area in Austin, Texas was strategically redistricted to include mainly African American residents. Laws have since been made to prevent this sort of manipulation of redistricting.

Cabiedes then provided some numbers from the 2020 Census that show how Cibola County has changed in the past decade. Per the 2020 Census, Cibola County’s population is 27,172, which is a -0.2 percent drop from 2010, specifically -44 people. With this number, Research & Polling Inc. divides that number among Cibola County’s five districts to see what the desirable number of people for each district would be and how current numbers compare. Based on these calculations, Cabiedes reported to the commission that Districts One, Two, and Three were at about the right place that they should be, plus or minus a few percentages. However, Districts Four and Five were not as well-balanced, with District Four currently being – 14.9 percent under where it should be population-wise and District Five currently being 18.2 percent over where it should be population-wise. With that, Cabiedes prepared to present four different redistricting plans to the commission that would correct the current district imbalances, while also reminding the board that redistricting plans are rarely perfect and will not always satisfy everyone.

Presented first was Plan A, which included the significant difference of splitting Ramah, N.M., between District Four and Five. In Plan A, District Three also extends towards San Mateo and takes away the Village of Milan precinct from District Four. Meanwhile, Plan B instead splits Acoma, N.M. Plan B includes District Three inheriting the Cubero and San Fidel areas and District Four maintains the Milan precinct and takes a small portion of the City of Grants. Cabiedes said that District Five could no longer exist containing both the Ramah and Acoma areas whole, so they had to split one of these areas in order to correct the population imbalances between Districts Four and Five. Plans C and D were essentially the same plans, but Plan C included splitting a village in Laguna, while Plan D included District Five inheriting a small portion of Grants while excluding Seama, N.M. into District One. Later in discussion, all of the commissioners agreed that Plans C nor D were suitable for the area’s needs.

During discussion, Chairman Torrez had each commissioner say which plan they preferred between A and B, and why. Commissioner Lowery stated that she preferred Plan A for two reasons. The first was that she did not want to see Seama, N.M. separated from its sister villages. The second was that she had developed strong relationships and ties withthe Cubero and San Fidel communities over the years, and she would lose these communities from her district (District One) to District Three with Plan B. Next, Commissioner Windhorst said that he was partial to either Plan A or Plan B, acknowledging Lowery’s relationship with the communities she would be losing, while also seeing the merits of Plan B. Commissioner Lucero said that he liked Plan B because it made the portion of Grants that he covers in District Three bigger. Commissioner Garcia expressed concerns for the total land area of District Five, her district, and how it makes it hard to manage because of the traveling that is done. Garcia also voiced other concerns regarding voting rights that Cabiedes quickly assured Garcia were taken into consideration. After much discussion, Commissioner Lucero made a motion to adopt Redistricting Plan B, Chairman Torrez seconded the motion, and the motion was approved 4-1, with all voting yes except for Commissioner Lowery, who voted no.

With the vote finalized, Chairman Torrez prepared to adjourn, announcing that the next regular commission meeting will be on Thursday, December 16, at 5 p.m. The Cibola County offices will be closed on Wednesday, November 24 “due to a complex wide power shut off needed for first phase of HVAC install.” The offices will also be closed on Thursday, November 25, and Friday, November 26, for the Thanksgiving holiday.