Politics & Government

State Appeals Court Upholds Oakland County Reapportionment Map

New county boundaries change representation in Farmington, Hills.

The State of Michigan Court of Appeals has upheld a reapportionment map that makes significant changes in how Farmington and Farmington Hills are represented on the Oakland County Board of Commissioners.

The map was drawn based on the results of the 2010 census, by an Apportionment Commission that included the county clerk/register of deeds, county prosecutor and county treasurer, along with the county Republican and Democratic party chairs. Democrats had a 3-2 majority.

The map moves all of Farmington, currently in District 14, into Commission District 15, represented by Jim Nash (D). The new district also includes eastern Hills voting precincts 1, 2, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 18 and 19, and five West Bloomfield Township precincts just north of 14 Mile Road.

Find out what's happening in Farmington-Farmington Hillswith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The new 14th District, represented by Bill Dwyer (R) includes western Hills precincts 3-9, 15-17 and 22-25, along with three voting precincts in southeast Novi. Residents in Hills voting precincts 20, 21, 26 and 27 move into District 23, currently represented by Nancy Quarles (D) of Southfield.

An appeal was filed in July by three county residents, identified in Thursday's Detroit News as "Oakland County Commissioner David Potts, R-Birmingham; Southfield resident Mary Kathryn Decuir; and newly elected Troy Mayor Janice Daniels."

Find out what's happening in Farmington-Farmington Hillswith free, real-time updates from Patch.

According to a copy of the Appeals Court ruling submitted by a Farmington-Farmington Hills Patch reader, the petitioners raised three issues:

  • The map does not meet the guidelines for reapportionment under state law that require the districts be "as compact and of nearly square shape as is practicable".
  • The districts were gerrymandered, or drawn to effect "partisan political advantage".
  • Creating an additional majority-minority district would "improperly dilute minority voting power and may violate the Federal Voting Rights Act".

The court's ruling indicated that balancing compactness with factors related to preserving boundary lines is a "reasonable choice in the reasoned exercise of judgment"; that the petitioners had not presented enough evidence to uphold the claim of partisanship; and that they failed to show the plan "provides minorities with less opportunity than other members of the electorate to elect representatives of their choice".

Ultimately, the plan was ruled "constitutional and otherwise in compliance with the laws of the state" by Judges Deborah A. Servitto, Mark J. Cavanagh and Cynthia Diane Stephens.

Both the Detroit News and The Oakland Press have quoted the plaintiff's attorney, Charlie Spies of Clark Hill, as saying the plaintiffs were "disappointed" by the ruling, and felt the Michigan Supreme Court would be a better place to make their arguments.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

More from Farmington-Farmington Hills