By Glenn Rolfe

GEORGETOWN — November’s election will reflect dramatic changes in population growth and geographic boundaries in Sussex County.

On Tuesday, the long and federally mandated redistricting process derived from 2020 census data ended with County Council’s unanimous approval of new boundaries for the five councilmanic districts — two of which are up for a vote this fall.

The maps, which take effect with the November election, were spearheaded by county attorney J. Everett Moore Jr., who oversaw several previous redistricting efforts for Sussex.

“Ten years ago, there was only two districts that needed to be changed. This year, four out of the five were outside bounds of the acceptable deviation. Only District 5 was within the acceptable range,” he said.

However, District 5, represented by Councilman John Rieley, underwent the most drastic change. It presently borders the county’s entire southern flank, from Maryland to the Atlantic Ocean. In the new mapping, it will be bordered by the four other districts as a “central” district.

Based on the Census Bureau’s 2020 results for Delaware, Sussex County’s population increased more than 20% between 2010-20, from 197,145 residents to 237,378. Thus, each council district must be within plus or minus 5% of an ideal population of 47,475 residents, with no fewer than 45,101 and no more than 49,849.

Paramount in the process were efforts to incorporate compactness, to follow natural boundaries or major roads when possible and to keep communities of interest together.

Mr. Moore’s proposal drew support from the League of Women Voters of Delaware, one of the organizations that submitted its own map during the process.

“This ordinance is consistent with those principles,” said Rehoboth Beach resident Jack Young, speaking on behalf of LWV during the public hearing that preceded council’s vote Tuesday. “The county attorney’s maps and metes and bounds descriptions follow closely the league’s original submission and the standards established in the constitution and (Delaware) Code. The league accordingly fully supports enactment of the proposed ordinance.”

Mr. Young continued, “The districts are not drawn to unduly favor any person or political party. In addition, communities of interest are included, where possible, into a single district. A community of interest includes any group who share a common social, cultural, racial, ethnic, a school district or economic interest common to that particular group.”
Mr. Moore said the LWV proposal was helpful.

“We engaged the public many steps of the way,” he said. “We asked for input. One of the maps that we got in — there were several — was from the League of Women Voters’ proposal. As we looked at this and compared it to many of the variations that we did, frankly, we saw that there was a lot of merit in the league’s map.”

Under Mr. Moore’s redistricting, all five council areas will change. Some will grow, and some will contract:

• District 1 includes Laurel, Seaford, Blades, Bethel, Delmar and Gumboro in southwestern Sussex.
• District 2, which gains Bridgeville and Milton but loses Georgetown to District 5, will cover the northwestern area, including Greenwood.
• District 3, altered due to significant population increases, will encompass the bulk of the beach communities — Lewes, Rehoboth Beach and Dewey Beach.
• District 4, having lost much of its northern reaches, will pick up Fenwick Island (from District 5), joining the southeastern beach area, along with Frankford, Dagsboro and Selbyville.
• District 5’s biggest change is the Georgetown area. It also will include a good portion of the Millsboro area.

When possible, Mr. Moore said he tried to utilize a “be true to your school” theme.

“In this process, one of the things I looked at was school districts. The reason we did that was because many of the municipalities and towns relate very strongly to their school districts, their school mascots. As much as possible, we tried to look at those lines for communities of interest,” he said.

Several council members applauded Mr. Moore and the county’s effort.

“I’ve been involved in politics for many decades, and I want to commend the county attorney and the county staff for about the most nonpartisan, apolitical event I have ever witnessed in my life. I think they deserve a lot of credit,” said Councilman Mark Schaeffer, who represents District 3.

District 2 Councilwoman Cindy Green added, “I want to commend the attorney and those that worked on this. I am excited that we have Greenwood and Bridgeville together, with the Woodbridge School District involved. I am very pleased with my councilmanic district.”

Two council seats — districts 4 and 5 — are up for election in November, as are Sussex County sheriff, register of wills and recorder of deeds. All carry four-year terms.