BLOOMINGTON – The matter concerning whether to have McLean County Board members representing 10 districts or whether to reduce the number of districts in an attempt to give votes from outlying parts of the county by reducing the number of districts to half that came up for a final vote at a special County Board session Tuesday. The special meeting was asked for by the nine Democrats on the 20-person Board.

Board members, some appearing in person, others participating remotely, voted 17-3 to keep the Board’s current structure intact. That meant there would be 10 districts with two representatives per district, and those districts would remain as is for 10 years before any attempts at redistricting could be attempted again.

Republican Board Members Jim Soeldner (R-Dist. 2), George O. Wendt (R – Dist. 3), and Lyndsay Bloomfield (R-Dist. 9) voted in opposition to the measure. Republican Board members had sought to reduce the number of districts, cutting the total in half, to five.

Board Representative Logan Smith (D-Dist. 2) admitted after the vote the representatives whose votes prevailed had a feeling they would face more opposition to leaving the districts as is. “I don’t know what happened in the last 48 hours, but I think a lot of members read their email, listened to their voicemail, and realized that people in this county didn’t like the five district plan or didn’t like any other plan.” He added he knew there were Republican members of the Board who didn’t support making the change when it was first proposed.

Board Representative Elizabeth Johnston (D-Dist. 5) who like Smith was in the majority during the vote, said she had received emails from constituents asking her to consider voting for reducing the number of districts. There were plans for either reducing the number of districts within the county from the current 10 to either 7 or as few as 4. Both single-digit options were seen by GOP members as potential advantages, Democrat members theorized.

“Of all the people I talked to in District 5, across Normal, across Bloomington, overwhelmingly, it was support for retaining the 10-district plan,” Johnston said. “That was from Republicans, that was from Independents, that was from Democrats, and that was from Libertarians.”

Johnston said this one specific subject became the centerpiece of a special meeting to keep the subject at hand from being rushed giving parties on both sides time to air out their opinions without feeling rushed.

Soeldner admitted to “being a little surprised” by the final vote, adding, “I’m happy with my vote. I would vote the same way again tomorrow. I am voting how I believe my constituents would like me to vote and so, I will go on from there.” He said he anticipated the vote taken Tuesday to have been something closed than what resulted. He said he thought it would end in an 11-9 count or an even 10-10 count with County Chair McIntyre breaking that tie.

Soeldner added that at an executive committee meeting attended by County Board committee leaders and held on May 10, a vote taken on changing the number of districts downward from 10 to five passed by a 5-2 count. Of the members who changed their vote a day later, Soeldner said, “I was surprised so many members had changed their minds overnight. But, that’s their prerogative. I’m happy with my vote and I would vote the same again tomorrow. I’m voting how I believe my constituents would like me to vote, and so we’ll go on from there.”

He added the whole point to this vote was to get more representation for the county’s rural residents.

“That’s what they decided to do and that’s I really have to say about it,” said Wendt, who attended the one hour and 20 minute session remotely, when reached for comment Tuesday night.

Silent Protest On Front Street: Board members who entered the County Government Building from its Front Street entrance were greeted by a group of seven citizens holding signs reading, “10” and “End Gerrymandering,” a silent attempt to send a message to Board members to leave the number of County Board districts in place.

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