After a series of meetings and gathering input, the Uintah County Commission approved maps for voting precincts and school board districts. During the December 20th Commission meeting, Clerk/Auditor Mike Wilkins presented information about the voting precincts including considerations such as City and water district boundaries. Wilkins presented a map that met the requirements with the number of registered voters in each district under 1250. After discussion, the Commissioners unanimously approved the proposed voting precinct map. The boundary maps for school board districts were also displayed during this meeting and discussion continued before being tabled. During the December 27th Commission meeting, Commissioner Bart Haslem largely led the discussion on the school board districts and two options. One map focused on keeping communities in the same district while the other focused more on balancing the number of voters per district to be as equal as possible. Haslem emphasized that he spoke with school board members and they overall preferred the community focused map. Commissioner Stringer brought up the potential challenge if voters protest changes in representation due to adjustments to districts. Uintah County Deputy Attorney Jon Stearmer commented that there could be challenges with either option but that he is legally comfortable with both approaches. School board member Kurt Case shared his support for the community focused map option, emphasizing that the original purpose of having districts was to make sure communities had representation as different communities have different needs. Commissioner Stringer originally motioned to approve the map focused on balancing numbers but the motion did not pass. After further discussion Stringer then made a motion to approve the community focused map and the motion passed.
