Politics & Government

New County Map Breaks up Farmington, Farmington Hills

Farmington switches districts, and Hills residents will have three county commissioners.

Barring a challenge, an Oakland County redistricting plan approved Friday will put Farmington residents in a new county commission district and split Farmington Hills from two into three districts.

Currently, Farmington is included, with the western portion of Farmington Hills, in Commission District 14, represented by Bill Dwyer (R). The new map puts the community in Commission District 15, represented by Jim Nash (D), along with 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.

The new 14th District 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.

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The Detroit Free Press reported Saturday that Republicans who were the minority on the five-member Reapportionment Commission criticized the map as a "gerrymandered, partisan plan." They are particularly concerned that Pontiac is divided into more "left-leaning districts". However, local commissioners didn't have much to say about the politics involved.

Contacted Monday, Dwyer said he had no comment on the redrawn districts.

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"I'm going to serve the district I'm in right now for the next year and a half," he said. Dwyer noted he sits on the Finance and Human Resources committees, co-chairs the Public Services Committee and is active in the district, all of which keeps him busy.

"It's a change," Nash said. "I've always felt I represent the city (of Farmington) anyway, so I don't see that as much of a difference."

While he said he hasn't been paying much attention to the controversy, this is "the first time in the history of the county that it's been redistricted with a Democratic majority. I don't see an issue. It's just how it's done. The last two times, it was four Republicans and one Democrat."

As did Dwyer, Nash said he intends to run for re-election and has been working on a new Human Services subcommittee that would help make returning veterans more aware of the services available to them.

Farmington Hills City Manager Steve Brock doesn't think the new divisions will have much effect on city government, but the political ramifications may have more of an impact, he said. For one thing, Hills residents will have more representation on the county board, with three commissioners representing their interests.

However, Brock said locals could face some interesting choices at the polls if, say, a West Bloomfield resident decided to run for 15th District commissioner. The political climates in West Bloomfield Township and in Novi tend to be more partisan than in Farmington Hills, Brock said.

"North of 14 (Mile Road) and west of Haggerty, it's different worlds," he added.

Farmington City Manager Vince Pastue said he was a "little surprised" by the map, as he didn't anticipate as much change as has been proposed.

"To the extent you can keep Farmington and Farmington Hills together with two county commissioners, that makes sense. The issues are similar," he said. "I also know the challenge they had to deal with ... restructuring the districts."

"At the end of the day, as long as whoever's representing us has our interests at heart, that's what matters," he said.

County residents have 30 days from its passage to challenge the map in court; the redrawn boundaries take effect following the 2012 election. The Oakland County Reapportionment Commission, charged with drawing new county districts based on the 2010 census, includes county Prosecutor Jessica Cooper (D), county Treasurer Andy Meisner (D), Democratic Party Chairman Frank Houston, Republican Party Chairman Jim Thienel and county Clerk Bill Bullard (R).


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