The Camden City Council unanimously approved a resolution to adopt new city ward boundaries at Tuesday night's regular meeting.
Aldermen James Bell and Alderman Terrie Smith were absent from the meeting.
The redistricting ordinance, which modifies the boundaries for the election of Camden's aldermen, was presented for a third reading Tuesday by Alderman L.E. Lindsey, who proposed the adoption of a new map that differed from a proposed map presented by Mayor Julian Lott.
The Ordinance has had two prior readings, but was tabled as the aldermen continued considering the proposed map submitted by the mayor.
As of the 2020 Census, the population breakdown in Camden's four wards, as they were previously drawn, were:
- Ward 1: Population 2,685 - 45.85% white; 47.04% black; 2.04% Hispanic
Ward 1's deviation from the total population was 1.15%.
- Ward 2: Population 2,688 - 19.42% white; 72.02% black; 2.75% Hispanic
Ward 2's deviation from the total population was 1.26%.
- Ward 3: Population 2,526 - 17.66% white; 75.49% black; 2.57% Hispanic
Ward 3's deviation was -4.84%. The negative number signifies Ward 3 having less population than the other wards.
- Ward 4: Population 2,719 - 60.76% white; 31% black; 2.32% Hispanic
Ward 4's deviation was 2.43%.
Under the new map:
The populations of Wards 1 and 2 remained the same.
- Ward 3: Population 2,598- 19.25% white; 73.98% black; 2.5 Hispanic
Ward 3's deviation from the total population is -2.07%.
- Ward 4: Population 2,641 - 60.51% white; 31.12 % black; 2.35% Hispanic
Ward 4's deviation from the total population is -0.045%.
In an special called meeting in March, City Attorney Michael Frey explained that the deviation percentages reference how far away the actual population of each city ward is from what the population of each ward would be if they were equal.
"For instance, if each ward had 3,000 people in at the redistricting, then there would have been 0% deviation. But of course, people move in and out of wards, and the population within in each ward changes," Frey said.
Lindsey said Tuesday, "What I looked at -- and I stated this at the last meeting -- the discrepancy in the population count was in Ward 3 and Ward 4. Ward 3 was like 120 people under population and Ward 4 was like 64 people over the average, and I said 'Gosh, all you have to do is shift 60 or 70 people out of Ward 4 into 3 and everybody else's lines stay exactly where they are.' Everybody will kind of know where they are. That's the easiest fix."
Lott said before the unanimous vote took place, "I just want to state for the record, I believe that option 2 (his proposal) is the best option for our city at this time with the knowledge we do have."