Chair Tonja Hanson made the announcement at the Oct. 1 Summit County Council meeting.
“We are going to keep this public hearing open to a date certain of Wednesday, Oct. 8. This meeting will be held at the Summit County courthouse in Coalville, at which time we will be taking more public comments and approve the map on that date,” she said. “With that said, meeting adjourned.”
She declined to comment further afterward.
The Utah Legislature is expected to meet in a special session Monday, Oct. 6, not only to consider state congressional districts but also the law that required Summit County to create council districts.
That law, House Bill 356, says the districting commission “shall submit a proposed map of district boundaries to the county council” on or before Oct. 1.
The submission happened at the council’s Sept. 3 meeting, when Commission Chair Malena Stevens presented the recommended map.
Under HB356, that started a 30-day clock for the council to “hold a public hearing at which … the county council shall approve the district map.” Councilmembers were also to be randomly assigned to one of the five districts at the hearing.
But as Hanson indicated, the hearing is still “open,” meaning it’s not over even though the Oct. 1 meeting was adjourned.
It’s unclear how legislators might revise HB356. Gov. Spencer Cox signed it with the caveat they would need to address “unintended consequences.”
The bill was specially written to change up the Summit County Council but, as written, roped in Wasatch County too. Wasatch County leaders have been assured they need not comply with the law since changes are coming.
Prior to Hanson's announcement, local Republican leaders and self-described conservatives in attendance Oct. 1 praised the local district map and the council for its work.
No one in attendance criticized the map, and local Democratic leaders haven’t disagreed with the idea of council districts so much as the way lawmakers passed the bill. They contend local residents weren’t asked whether they wanted to change the council system a majority voted for in 2006.
The council is currently all Democrats; Hanson is the only eastside resident.
Under the recommended map, Republicans could take two of the five council seats. Historically, GOP candidates have fared better in the North Summit and South Summit districts than in three that make up the Park City area.
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