The city of Surprise is asking for resident participation in the process to update the City Council district boundaries.

Federal law requires the redrawing of district boundaries every 10 years following the U.S. Census.

This is called redistricting, and it is an effort to ensure all voices are represented equally and fairly by creating districts that have nearly the same number of people in it.

According to the 2020 Census, Surprise’s population was 143,148, an increase of 21.8% from the 2010 Census, when 117,517 residents were counted. As Surprise has grown, the six City Council districts have become unevenly populated.

To assist with the redistricting process, the City Council selected its respective representatives for the Redistricting Advisory Committee at its Jan. 17 meeting.

The membership is comprised of Surprise residents who are not currently a member of another City of Surprise board, commission, or committee. Councilmembers designated eight committee members at the meeting, with one additional selection made individually by Councilmember Ken Remley after the meeting.

Here are the members of the committee, followed by the name of the Councilmember who nominated them:

• Ken Johanson (Mayor Skip Hall)
• Michelle Watson (Hall)
• Andy Cepon (Hall)
• Steve Wright (District 1 Councilmember Nick Haney)
• Terry Murphy (District 2 Councilmember Aly Cline)
• Nate Pomeroy (District 3 Councilmember Patrick Duffy)
• Kerrie Hanzel (District 4 Councilmember Ken Remley)
• Ron Boen (District 5 Councilmember Jack Hastings)
• Chris Eastburn (District 6 Vice Mayor Chris Judd)

The committee will meet at least once per month February through April. Its role is to work with an expert consultant hired by city, as well as residents and each other, to create maps that abide by the redistricting principles.

Residents can view maps with population data and draw district boundaries by hand or with an online tool for consideration by the committee and City Council on the redistricting website at surpriseaz.gov/Redistricting.

In addition to online public participation tools, there will be a series of public meetings. Details are available on the Redistricting website under Timeline & Public Meetings.

The committee will ultimately identify up to three preferred maps to recommend to City Council in May. Council is scheduled to vote to adopt one of the recommended maps at the June 6 City Council meeting.

For information on the redistricting process, visit surpriseaz.gov/Redistricting or email Redistricting@surpriseaz.gov.