See how Floyd County will be divided into three county supervisor districts

By Bob Steenson, bsteenson@charlescitypress.com

New Floyd County Board of Supervisor districts drawn by a state agency will split the county into large northwest and southeast districts, with the third district composed of two Charles City precincts and the top part of St. Charles Township north of the city.

The districting was required by a county special election vote held last summer that made Floyd County a “Plan 3 county,” meaning supervisor candidates have to live in the district they are running to represent, and only voters living in that district can vote to chose the supervisor for that district.

The filing period for county elections is March 7 to March 25. Only people living in a supervisor district can sign nominating papers for supervisor candidates for that district.

The three districts were drawn by the state Legislative Services Agency after voting precincts that had been approved by the county after Census numbers were received could not be divided up with a close-enough-to-equal number of residents per district.

The Board of Supervisors tentatively approved the proposed map at its meeting Monday morning, and also decided which newly elected supervisor next year will serve only half the usual term.

With the new districts, all three supervisor seats are up for election this year, and to keep supervisor elections staggered in the future, one of those seats will be for only two years.

The supervisors had a number drawn from a box, and the supervisor elected in Supervisor District 1 in November will serve just half a term. The supervisors elected in Districts 2 and 3 will serve their usual four-year terms.

Incumbent Supervisors Doug Kamm and Roy Schwickerath both live in the new Supervisor District 1. Supervisor Linda Tjaden lives in Supervisor District 3.

• Supervisor District 1 will consist of Ulster, Scott, Union, Pleasant Grove, Riverton and most of St. Charles townships, and Charles City Precinct 1, which is all of the incorporated city south of the Cedar River.
• Supervisor District 2 will be Charles City Precinct 2 and Charles City Precinct 3, which together are all the people in the city limits north of the river, as well as the part of St. Charles Township that is north of the city.
• Supervisor District 3 will consist of Rockford, Rock Grove, Rudd, Floyd, Cedar and Niles townships.

Normally voting precincts are not allowed to divide townships, but that was the only way the Legislative Services Agency could get the required equal population in each district, according to information from the Iowa Secretary of State Office.

Charles City Precinct 3 and the small portion of St. Charles Township will become a voting precinct – but only if the city and county pass an agreement allowing that, since usually a city precinct cannot include part of a rural area.

The eight voting precincts and voting sites would be:

• Charles City 1 (CC1) – Charles City corporate limits south of the Cedar River; voting at the Floyd County Courthouse.
• Charles City 2 (CC2) – Charles City corporate limits north and east of the Cedar River; voting at Messiah Lutheran Church.
• Charles City 3 (CC3)/St. Charles North – Charles City corporate limits north of the Cedar River and the northern part of St. Charles Township abutting the north and west corporate limits of Charles City and north of the Soo Line Railroad; voting at Trinity United Methodist Church.
• Rock Grove – Rock Grove township including Nora Springs; voting at Nora Springs City Hall.
• Rockford – Rockford township including the city of Rockford; voting at Rockford City Hall.
• Rudd/Floyd/Cedar/Niles – Rudd, Floyd, Cedar and Niles townships and the cities of Rudd, Floyd and Colwell; voting at the Floyd Community Center.
• Scott/Union/Pleasant Grove – Scott, Union and Pleasant Grove townships and the city of Marble Rock; voting at the Marble Rock Library.
• Ulster/St. Charles South/Riverton – Ulster and Riverton townships and the part of St. Charles Township south of the CC3/St. Charles North Precinct;, voting at the Floyd County Fairgrounds.

The supervisors tentatively accepted the new supervisor districts and directed County Auditor Gloria Carr to work with the city to get an agreement on the combined precinct.

The supervisors had passed an ordinance setting up the precincts that the county’s Temporary Redistricting Committee had recommended, but a new ordinance will be needed with the revised precincts drawn by the state.

The new supervisor districts and voting precincts will be used this year, in the June 7 primary election and the Nov. 8 general election.