Thomas M. Taylor, Mayor of the City of Franklin and Chairman of the Intergovernmental Cooperation Council (ICC) and Catherine Cavanaugh, President of the Whitefish Bay Women’s Club (WFBWC), announced today that the ICC and WFBWC will co-host a community public forum on Milwaukee County Redistricting on Wednesday, June 22, 2011 at 7:00PM at the Whitefish Bay Women’s Club, 600 East Henry Clay Street.

Milwaukee County is required to re-draw its electoral districts every ten years to adjust for changes in population, ensuring that each supervisory district represents an equal number of citizens. A tentative redistricting plan was approved by the Milwaukee County Board which needlessly divided communities and in one instance unnecessarily divided a community, Whitefish Bay, into two supervisory districts which had never been done in the nearly 40 year history of redistricting in the North Shore Area. The plan has been criticized by a broad cross-section of community groups as it was hastily developed and with little to no stakeholder input. Some critics also indicated that the Board failed to properly consider and debate alternatives presented by other entities, including plans calling for a reduced board size.
The community public forum will provide an opportunity for area citizens to learn more about the redistricting process and to offer valuable insight and advice on the process and the district maps to be in place for the next decade.

The community public forum will include a panel discussion on this topic with the Moderator, Rob Henken, President of the Public Policy Forum.
“Ensuring equality of every vote is one of our nation’s foremost principles and a fair redistricting process is the key component in that effort,” Taylor said. “I urge all those who care about the future of Milwaukee County and its government to attend and provide their valuable input at this important meeting,” Taylor added.