New City Council District Boundaries to Take Effect October 20th

October 13, 2022

At the September 19, 2022 City Council Meeting, the Council approved O-22-34 and Concept Map A as their new City Council District boundaries for the next 10 years. The ordinance will be formally published on Thursday, October 13, 2022 and the new Council District Boundaries will take effect on Thursday, October 20, 2022. City Council webpage and updated AGIS mapping layers will also go into effect on October 20.

The new City Council District boundaries account for population changes and offers minimal change from current Council Districts. Council District boundaries remain identical for Districts 3, 4, and 9. Changes to other Districts include:

• District 5 had to lose population. Its boundary with District 1 moves north to the bluff south of the Petroglyph Estates.
• District 2 crosses the river between Central and I-40 to Coors taking the West Mesa and Pat Hurley neighborhoods from District 1.
• District 6 moves west into District 2 from Buena Vista to I-25 between Gibson and Lomas. District 6 also takes the University West area (including Carrie Tingley Hospital) from District 2.
• District 7 moves south into District 2 from I-40 to Lomas between I-25 and Carlisle not including the University West area.
• District 8 moves into District 7 from Montgomery to Comanche between Wyoming and Eubank.

Every 10 years, the City Charter requires that the Council appoint a committee composed of an equal number of representatives from each Council District to review and make recommendations regarding redistricting the Council Districts based on information from the Federal Census. The Committee was tasked with using the population data from the official 2020 U.S. Census along with any other pertinent information to make a report recommending changes in the Council District boundaries that the Committee decided were necessary based on constitutional principles governing voting rights, population, compactness, and other related factors.

The Committee was made up of 18 members - one voting member and one alternate member from each Council District. The Council is required, in appointing a committee that "as nearly as is practicable" be a fair and balanced representation of all geographical areas of the City in the redistricting process and provide a total membership that reflects the racial, ethnic and gender makeup of the City's population. The Committee sent their recommendations to the City Council for consideration on July 1, 2022.

The Redistricting Committee process can be reviewed at https://www.cabq.gov/2022redistricting.