Committee examines Aurora’s ethnic makeup by ward

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Updated: February 25, 2012 8:16AM

AURORA — Aurora likely will have at least two wards in the future in which Hispanics are the majority population, according to review on Monday by a special ward remap committee.

According to 2010 Census data, two current Aurora wards meet the criteria of “supermajority” Hispanic wards. As of 2010 data, Ward 2 is 81 percent Hispanic and Ward 7 is 74 percent Hispanic. Ward 3 is 64 percent Hispanic and Ward 6 is 50 percent Hispanic, meaning Hispanics make up the majority in those wards, too.

City attorney Blanca Dominguez said that the new ward map should have at least two wards that are 65 percent or more Hispanic, constituting a “supermajority” as previously determined by courts in a lawsuit brought against the city by the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund.

That lawsuit charged that the 2002 map violated the Voting Rights Act because the redrawn wards supposedly spread Latino voters among five wards, diluting their power. A pair of court rulings, however, found that the city’s map did not violate voters’ rights.

“Based on this, I think we would still have a good defense (in case the city was sued),” Dominguez said.

Data showed that the city’s black population is relatively evenly dispersed in all 10 of the city’s wards. The city’s Asian population is highest in Wards 9 and 10, making up 17 percent of each ward’s population.

The city has the maximum number of wards it is entitled to under Illinois law — 10 — but the current boundaries of those wards will be redrawn. Aurora’s population increased by about 38 percent between 2000 and 2010. As of the 2010 numbers, each ward should contain about 19,800 residents — an increase from the previous target of 14,200 residents.

At a previous meeting, city staff announced most wards currently east of the Fox River will likely get smaller in area, while West Side wards will get bigger.

Dominguez said the committee will have to create a map that ensures no ward deviates in population above or below 10 percent, does not unfairly dilute a racial voting block and tends to follow natural boundaries.

City planning and zoning administrator Ed Sieben said city staff will present first drafts of the new ward map at the special remap committee’s next meeting at 3:30 p.m. Feb. 6 in Room 5B at City Hall.