The DeRidder City Council unanimously voted to approve three ordinances at the regular meeting on Monday.

One such ordinance adopted the new 2022 Redistricting Plan.

Keith Hooper, City Council President and District 1 Representative, said this is a process required every decade.

Hooper said redistricting is a necessity to ensure that the populations of every district are leveled out.

“The population might increase in one area, and shrink in another,” he said. “But, you want all your districts to be fairly close in population.”

During the redistricting process, the populations of each district are audited, as they are required to be within a 5% range of each other. “They have to bring that population back within a certain amount of people in each district,” explained Hooper. “So, everyone is within 100 people of everyone else.”

There were changes made to all 5 districts, but districts 1, 2 and 4, which intersect at the center of DeRidder, were edited the most.

After redistricting, District 1 has a population of 2015, District 2 has a population of 1874, District 3 has a population of 1909, District 4 has a population of 2005 and District 5 has a population of 2049.

Hooper said that the process of redistricting was an easy one. “I think the process went very well,” he said. “I’m in my third term, so this was still my first time to experience this, so it went very smoothly.”

The bulk of the work was completed by Bill Blair. “He was well informed and had it all worked for us,” said Hopper. “We tweaked it a little bit, but overall, we’re pleased with the results.”

The Council also voted to introduce an emergency ordinance authorizing the city to enter a contract with the Louisiana Department of Transportation Development. This contract secures funding for project No. RU 18-06-23 through the Public Transportation Operating Assistance Program for the non-urbanized area of Beauregard Parish.

In addition, the council unanimously voted to introduce an ordinance approving the three-year term of Derek Plumer as the Fire Department representative of the DeRidder Municipal Fire and Police Civil Service Board.

The public hearing for Plumer’s election to the Civil Service Board is scheduled for Monday, Dec. 26.