The first draft of Metro redistricting maps could be released as soon as next week, about a month after localized data was released from the 2010 Census.
Mike Hoglund, the director of Metro's Research Center, said the department has already calculated the changes districts will need to be equalized in population.
Metro's jurisdictional boundary had a 2010 population of 1,486,926, according to the center's analysis of census data. That evens out to about 248,000 residents per district.
District 4, Kathryn Harrington's northern Washington County district, has about 24,000 residents more than the equalized number. District 2, the central Clackamas County district represented by Carlotta Collette, was 18,000 residents short of the average.
Also off were the southern Portland district represented by Barbara Roberts (District 6 is 8,000 below the equalized number) and Shirley Craddick's east Multnomah and Clackamas district (District 1 is 5,000 above).
With District 3, Carl Hosticka's southern Washington County district, right at even, one simple possibility would be to shift his district north, including more of Beaverton and moving some of southern Washington County, and/or Wilsonville, into Collette's district.
Under Metro code, Hosticka and Councilor Rex Burkholder could even be zoned out of their own districts because they are term-limited in 2012. If another councilor is moved out of their district – an unlikely scenario, although Collette's property straddles the line between districts 2 and 6 – they'd have two months to move back into the district they represent.
In April, the Metro Council is expected to specify what criteria it'll use to determine the finer points of boundary adjustments, likely dropping watersheds as a factor and adding school districts. Redistricting is expected to be done by May 23.
Conflicting views on COO search
Who's the next Michael Jordan?
At a worksession Tuesday, councilors sent mixed messages as to whether a local or national candidate might be the best fit to replace Jordan as Metro's Chief Operating Officer.
Councilor Kathryn Harrington seemed to express some doubts as to whether someone coming from out of state could adapt to Oregon's political culture.
"Do we think, within the state of Oregon, we have a sufficient pool to deal with?" she said. "Part of what we're dealing with in Metro's work is what is expected of us regionally by things like state law and federal law and history and Oregon values… is it something someone could learn? Sure. But the criticality of time might influence that."
Still, said Councilor Carlotta Collette, Metro's national profile could make it a lucrative position for qualified applicants.
"We probably could do a great job of recruiting 'in house,' but my first instinct would be to go with a good headhunter or a national search," she said.
Before anyone lands the job, though, councilors will need to determine what attributes they're looking for in Metro's second chief operating officer.
"It might be an opportunity for all of us to look at… how many staff are in there, and what they're doing and whether this is the right structure for today," said Councilor Rex Burkholder. "Maybe we don't need as much firepower at the top to keep it running."
Council President Tom Hughes said that conversation should take place before the recruitment process begins.
"If you decide you want to organize your administration differently, you go after different kinds of people," he said.
Under a timeline presented by Metro's human resources department, the council could finish interviews of candidates in July, with the goal of having a new COO in place by Sept. 1.