2020 Census could put Perdido & Innerarity back in District 1

2020 Census could put Perdido & Innerarity back in District 1

Preliminary decisions among elected officials about new Escambia County voting districts, spurred by population growth data from the 2020 Census, would move Perdido Key and the Innerarity peninsula from District 2 back to District 1. Perdido Key and Innerarity were part of District 1 prior to redistricting after the 2000 Census. Strangely enough, District 1 currently includes Perdido Bay Golf Club, but not Perdido Key and Innerarity Point. Both the county and school board have the power to set their own voting districts, but both boards said doing so would create voter confusion.
The Escambia County Supervisor of Elections Office solicited proposals from elected officials in advance of the Nov. 2 second joint meeting to be held at the downtown County office building, beginning at 5:01 PM. The new zoning maps are expected to be announced next month, but there is no mandated deadline involved.
Charles Krupnick, president of the nonprofit 501(c)3 Perdido Key Association (PKA) in a message to PKA members wrote that “The PKA Board is working to keep Perdido Key a viable and improving beach community. The ramifications of shifting Perdido Key from District 2 to District 1 or remaining in District 2 are uncertain and to a large extent dependent upon the individuals who will serve as District 1, District 2 and other District Commissioners.” Krupnick added that projects affecting Perdido Key such as approval of the Pensacola Pass Inlet Management Plan to reduce beach erosion and the Perdido Key Master Plan, construction of the Perdido Key Multi-Use Path, crosswalks on Perdido Key Dr., and a new traffic light and crosswalk at the Flora-Bama were implemented with Perdido Key in District 2. District 1 has seen extensive growth in the Beulah area, home of the Navy Federal Credit Union campus and extensive subdivision and apartment construction.
The proposed redistricting draft would leave District 1 with the smallest population of the five districts. Currently, District 1 is the most oversized and District 2 the most undersized of the county’s five districts. Under the 2020 census, if all five districts were split evenly, each district would have a population of 64,381, according to Supervisor of Elections David Stafford.