County, state approval next steps in process
By Kellen Olshefski
Correspondent
The City of Elkhorn Common Council voted unanimously in favor of approving updated ward boundaries and aldermanic districts last week.
A first reading of the ordinances was approved at the council’s Oct. 4 meeting.
At the meeting in early October, Elkhorn City Clerk Lacey Reynolds said that every 10 years – following the census – the city has to redraw its boundaries and districts in accordance with the law to ensure that the city’s population is balanced throughout the wards and districts.
According to Reynolds, the City of Elkhorn used to have eight wards. However, with how Walworth County redrew its supervisory district lines, Ward 8 is no longer needed and, as a result, it has been now enveloped by Ward 5.
“Ward 8 didn’t have anyone in it anyway, so it didn’t affect the population,” Reynolds said.
As a result of the redraw, some of the citizens who were previously in Aldermanic District VI (Ward 6, Alderman Karel Young) now fall under Aldermanic District I (Ward 1, Alderman Tim Shiroda), which will help even out the wards.
Additionally, Reynolds noted, Gary Payson Jr.’s entire neighborhood now falls under Ward 7, though those areas will still fall under the same aldermanic district with Payson as its alderman.
“So, we had very minimal changes, which is a good thing, because according to law, we don’t want to make big changes and we want it to be as permanent as possible,” Reynolds said.
Reynolds noted on Oct. 4 that after the council approved the ordinances to update the boundaries she would pass the updates along to Walworth County in time for the Oct. 18 deadline.
If the county approves the proposed updates, it will pass them along to the state for approval.
“We might not know until next year – until after the April elections – if the state decides to change something,” she said.
“Right now, we can say it’s good, but it might change,” Reynolds added.
Councilmembers voted unanimously in favor of the updates at their Oct. 18 meeting.
A full, detailed map of the updated wards and districts can be found on the Common Council section of the city’s website at cityofelkhorn.org.
