The Santa Fe Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission has approved new city council district maps for the next municipal election.
The new maps must be drawn after each census to react to population changes. The last time the lines were redrawn was in 2015 after Santa Fe annexed a portion of the county.
The maps were only given some moderate boundary shifts in reaction to Santa Fe’s population growth.
There was very little public reaction to the proposed changes ahead of the final vote and public meetings by the commission were sparsely attended.
Commission Chair Lillimae Ortiz says the lack of public outcry likely means people are happy with the final results.
“The fact that the people who did show up, the majority of them did support the plan and the concept that we voted on,” she said. “I’m happy with the outcome. I believe we did the best job wew could for the city of Santa Fe. We complained with all the requirements and I think it was a good addition to the 2015 plan.”
The commission has the final word on the map boundaries. The body will present its findings to the Governing Body at its July 13th meeting.
The new council districts will go into effect after the next Santa Fe city elections in 2023.