By Glenn Rolfe

GEORGETOWN — Substantial change looms across Sussex County’s representation landscape in proposed draft mapping for the five County Council districts.

District 5, which presently runs along the county’s entire southern flank from Maryland to the Atlantic Ocean, is proposed for a more central location, to be circled by the four other districts in federally mandated redistricting, again headed by longtime county attorney J. Everett Moore Jr.

“(The 5th District) has undergone the most dramatic change,” said Mr. Moore during a presentation at council’s Tuesday meeting.

The League of Women Voters of Delaware, for the most part, believes that maps drawn by Mr. Moore and his staff represent a change for the better. LWV was one of several organizations that submitted map proposals, and its ideas were taken into serious consideration, Mr. Moore said.

“We had many comments concerning that map,” he said. “We did listen.”

LWV spokesman Jack Young, co-chair of the Fair Maps Coalition, noted that the group’s proposal and Mr. Moore’s design are similar.

“The league appreciates not only the hard work of the county attorney’s office but the way the map he created looks to be fair and representative,” he said.

In Mr. Moore’s map, all five council districts will change, some growing and some contracting, due to geographical shifts stemming from 2020 U.S. census data.

Based on those numbers, Sussex County’s population increased more than 20% between 2010-20, from 197,145 to 237,378 residents. Therefore, each council district must be within plus or minus 5% of an ideal population of 47,475 residents, containing no fewer than 45,101 citizens and no more than 49,849.

Ten years ago, in redistricting following the 2010 census, only two districts were outside the acceptable deviation range. Now, four of the five current districts are outside the allowable range. The one district that isn’t is District 5.

School districts factored significantly in map drafting, Mr. Moore said, adding that efforts were made to encompass their boundaries whenever possible.

“Municipalities and communities tend to be bonded to their school districts, whether it be the Delmar Wildcats, the Laurel Bulldogs, Seaford Blue Jays, Woodbridge Blue Raiders, Milford Buccaneers, Cape Henlopen Vikings, Sussex Central Golden Knights or Indian River Indians,” said Mr. Moore.

Mr. Young pointed to several “very slight variations” to the league’s map. “And they, in essence, were the result of trying to follow school districts. That is the major difference between the two,” he said.

According to Mr. Young, one major thing Mr. Moore’s map proposal achieves “is putting communities of interest together — and trying to be more compact. When you look at the districts, there is a greater sense of compactness, keeping communities of interest together, and I applaud the county attorney for using, as one of those measures, school districts.

“In that sense, both the league map and the proposed county map are very similar. Realizing that the league map was based solely on population criteria, trying to keep municipalities together — which we did — I think achieves a fairly balanced approach to councilmanic redistricting in Sussex County.”

The proposed map is available here.

Comments on the proposal can be submitted electronically (redistricting@sussexcountyde.gov) or by standard mail through 4:30 p.m. Jan. 7. Letters should be addressed to the Clerk of the Sussex County Council, P.O. Box 589, Georgetown, DE 19947.

The proposed draft is expected to be introduced to County Council on Jan. 11, with a public hearing in February. Notice of that meeting will be advertised in advance.

Following the public comment period in February, Mr. Moore will report back to council before a formal ordinance and final draft map are introduced for consideration shortly thereafter.

Due to delays in receiving census data from the federal government, Sussex County and other governmental entities are moving quickly to establish new boundaries ahead of the 2022 election.

In Sussex County, 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.

Under the county’s redistricting proposal:

• District 1 includes Laurel, Seaford, Blades, Bethel, Delmar and Gumboro in southwestern Sussex County.
• 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 contain most 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 the inland communities of Frankford, Dagsboro and Selbyville.
• District 5 sees the biggest change, in the Georgetown area. It will include a good portion of the Millsboro region.