Reaction to first reading of an ordinance calling for the creation of the Valparaiso Citizens Redistricting Commission settled mostly along party lines Monday evening after the Valparaiso City Council heard from Council Member Barbara Domer, D-3rd, who has been spearheading the issue for the past year and a half.
The ordinance Domer proposes would formalize a citizen-led redistricting advisory commission to draw up the city’s five city council districts after completion of the 2030 census and beyond.
“When district boundaries are drawn thoughtfully and transparently, they help guard against unfair practices such as gerrymandering, which can distort representation and weaken the connection between citizens and their government. Public participation in the map drawing process strengthens these checks and balances, allowing residents to influence how their interests are protected and advanced,” Domer read from a lengthy statement.
She said discussions began with the League of Women Voters of Porter County and Common Cause Indiana early in the year to allow time to discuss two objectives: to identify membership qualifications for service on the commission and to establish redistricting criteria to be followed when drawing a new map.
Domer said an initial forum was held May 15 at Pines Retirement Village to study ordinances put in place by other municipalities.
After multiple draft revisions, the fourth version was presented at City Hall on Oct. 2 with over 50 members of the public in attendance. Domer told the council its legal advisor had reviewed the draft and found it to be legally sound.
Council Member Robert Cotton, D-2nd, said there was a lot of disinformation on social media regarding the two organizations and said he hoped they would speak to their mission statements at some point in the future.
Council Member Jack Pupillo, R-4th, responded, “When you talk about any organization that says they’re non-partisan, then supports traditionally very progressive, left things like no voter ID law, abortion rights, then it starts to conflate the issue of fair maps and representation and I think that’s where the confusion comes from and some perception that these organizations might have a skewed understanding on what a fair map might be.”
City Council President Ellen Kapitan, D-At-Large, praised Domer’s efforts. “Really well done on getting the word out and getting people engaged,” she said. “I’m really excited to see us be a role model in the state.”
Council Member Diana Reed, D-1st, noted that she would like to see full vetting of whatever tool is used in the next redistricting, as there were complaints about the computer modeling used in 2022. Council Member Peter Anderson, R-5th, asked if the League of Women Voters and Common Cause were the only organizations consulted.
“There’s not a person in this room that believes the League of Women Voters is not partisan,” Anderson said.
“I do,” replied Council Member Emilie Hunt, D-At-Large.
Anderson’s remark was the only one of the evening that drew ire from the audience, which grumbled loudly. “I do!” one man echoed Hunt.
Cotton asked Anderson if he could suggest some other organizations. Anderson replied that he couldn’t name any off the top of his head, but prior research had shown they exist.
Valparaiso City Councilman Peter Anderson, R-5th, at City Hall in Valparaiso, Indiana, Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2023. (Andy Lavalley for the Post-Tribune)
Kapitan asked if he had suggested any of them to Domer in the past year and a half she’d been doing her work. “Well, somehow it’s my fault if she didn’t consider it,” he replied. “It’s her ordinance.”
“I’m not blaming you,” Kapitan replied.
“You just did,” Anderson countered.
“I can see this has upset you,” she said. “Maybe we should move on.” The council agreed to carry the ordinance to a second reading at a later date.
In other business, Cotton broached a discussion on limiting gas stations and convenience stores in the city under a proposed unified zoning ordinance. He said there “seems to be a proliferation of gas stations or convenience stores with gas stations. I do know that there are other municipalities that have gotten ahead of us” on setting restrictions for their development.
Cotton cited 20 gas stations in the city, which he said was one per 1,700 residents, while the national average is one per 22,700 residents.
Costas pushed back, saying he’d prefer statistics come from a professional consultant and that the city’s high number of restaurants and big box stores bring in many outside visitors, justifying a higher-than-average need for service stations.
He prefers to address any concerns about service stations and convenience stores during the ongoing process of reviewing the unified development ordinance and comprehensive plan, which should be completed in the next 22 months, according to Planning and Transit Director Bob Thompson.
“Apparently, people like convenience stores because they keep building them and they’re busy,” Costas said.
“I think government tipping the scale on free market is kind of out of line,” added Pupillo.
Costas waxed on capitalism in Valparaiso with one final comment. “The market is the collective voice of all consumers. We vote by how we spend our money,” he said.
Anderson asked if the issue had been studied by the Environmental Subcommittee. Hunt said that was a great idea, and the body agreed to revisit the issue in a few weeks.
Finally, the council unanimously approved the second reading of the Valparaiso Community Schools 2026 budget with praise, as well as a seven-year tax abatement on an 80,000-square-foot building near the Porter County Regional Airport to be leased to Sensit, the manufacturer of gas detecting sensors and environmental monitors.
Construction on the building, which would allow for the creation of 12 full-time jobs with benefits at some point over a four-year duration, is anticipated to begin by year’s end, according to George Douglas, development director for the city.
Shelley Jones is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.