JEFFERSON PARISH NEEDS BETTER REPRESENTATION

Jefferson Parish voters are being discriminated against and being severely under-represented. Every single Parish in Louisiana better represents their constituents. Our councilmen each represent such a large group of people that they are unable to provide fair representation. Some of the areas that some of our council districts comprise are so vast and wide-ranging that it is impossible for a councilman to provide a community service in his district that will benefit his whole district.

For example: District 5 in Metairie is our most compact district even though it has a population of about 90,000 people which is more than most Parishes in Louisiana and only has one councilman representing them. If this councilman’s constituents called on him to provide them with a new library, playground, senior citizen center or other accommodation, he could locate it in the center of his district and it would be within about a mile of all of his constituents.

District 4 is not quite as compact but such accommodation could be placed in the middle of that district and still be only about 2 miles from the furthest constituent.

But in Districts 1, 2 and 3, such accommodation could not be centrally located close to all. If District 3 had a councilman living in Kenner by I-10 and decided to build this accommodation in his neighborhood it would be over 22 miles from his other constituents in Harvey or Gretna. If a District 2 councilman built an accommodation in his district by I-10 in Metairie it would be 20 miles from his constituents in Gretna or Harvey. If a District 1 councilman built an accommodation in Gretna by the Mississippi River it would be 102 miles from his constituents in Grand Isle.

This is why Jefferson Parish needs more council districts to better represent the people of Jefferson. Jefferson Parish used to have at least one more council district until the Parish Council got rid of it to create another council-at-large position against the advice of the Jefferson Parish Charter Advisory Board in 2002 because Council members were afraid of losing their position on the Council when term limits started and wanted to make another council position available for them to take when they became term limited in their district council position.

The Jefferson Parish Charter Advisory Board met in 2002, when the council overrode its advice to create a new at-large position and winnow its districts down from six to five. Even though the Advisory Board was against this change, the Council voted to make the change anyway to provide us with even less representation.

Members will soon be nominated to the Board to make decisions for the coming decade.

Why only 5 districts in Jefferson is a bad idea:

1. Five districts represent 432,552 people for an average of 86,510 people per district councilman.
2. This is the least amount of council districts in any Parish in Louisiana.
3. This is the highest number of people represented by any councilman in the state.
4. Most Parishes with far less population have more councilmen representing them so that the councilmen can better represent their smaller, more compact, less populated district.

Examples:
East Baton Rouge Parish has the highest population in Louisiana with 440,171 people and 12 council districts with an average of 36,680 people per district.
St. Tammany Parish has 233,740 people with 14 council districts with each councilman representing only 16,695 people.
Tangipahoa Parish has 121,097 people with 10 council districts with each councilman representing 12,109 people.
Plaquemines Parish has 23,042 people with 9 council districts with each councilman representing 2,560 people.

Some Parish statistics:

In our surrounding 7 Parish area consisting of the Parishes of Orleans, St. Charles, St. Bernard, Plaquemines, St. Tammany, Tangipahoa and Washington there are 857,553 people represented by 57 district councilmen for an average of 15,044 people per district. If Jefferson Parish citizens were as equally represented as citizens of our surrounding parishes we would have 28 council districts.

As you can see, Orleans Parish is the only Parish even close to having as little representation as we have in Jefferson and I know that most Jeffersonians will agree that Orleans Parish is the one that we least likely want to emulate.

Having 10 council districts in Jefferson Parish and one at-large councilmen would more fairly represent the citizens of Jefferson Parish and make their councilman more accessible to them. There could be 5 districts on the East Bank and 5 on the West Bank with each district representing about 43,000 people. We must meet with our Jefferson Parish Charter Advisory Board members and with the Jefferson Parish Council to demand fair and equal representation for all.

Even our present Councilmen should react positively to this change because, hypothetically, they would be able to run for the council again in their new home districts since it would be a new position for all.

This can be changed at the 2022 meeting of the Jefferson Parish Charter Advisory Board if enough citizens show interest in doing so. .