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The debate over whether Herriman city should abandon its at-large voting system in favor of voting districts ended Thursday with a 4-1 vote that created districts for council elections.

Herriman now will be divided into four voting districts, with each district electing one representative to the council.

"There were concerns about non-representation and this will defuse a few things in the future," said Councilwoman Raquel DeLuca. "There have been some bad campaigns in the past and I think districts gives people running more accountability."

A majority of the council — Mike Day, Matt Robinson and DeLuca — favored districting going into the meeting, while Mayor Josh Mills and Councilman Craig Tischner opposed how quickly the change was being made.

Mills cast the only nay vote.

"It's not about a number, it's about a need for separate representation, which I don't think the city is ready for yet," Mills said.

The city's population growth to nearly 22,000 in the 2010 Census was the initial reason the idea was presented to the council, said DeLuca, but it wasn't the only reason.

"I believe we do have a lot of diversity and we need to recognize that," DeLuca said.

Tischner was originally opposed to districting because it was happening so quickly, but decided to vote in favor of it because he didn't want to be left out.

"It was a foregone conclusion," Tischner said. "I would have preferred we held it off but because I knew it was going to happen, I wanted to have a say."

The council was presented with five mapping options, one that featured three districts and four that included four districts. Mills and Tischner pushed for the three-district map, with each district electing one representative, and leaving one council seat at-large.

Public opinion varied on the issue, according to city spokeswoman Nicole Martin.

"There was a definite divide," said Martin. "Some wanted to bring government closer to the people and others thought it wasn't time."

Three open houses were held during the 35 days prior to the vote. Residents were given maps explaining districting options, but had not seen the plan that was selected.

Last month, the grass-roots group Friends of Herriman issued a robo-call to about 2,500 residents accusing the council of gerrymandering maps to ensure their own re-election. The group's founder, John Knotwell, later apologized.

DeLuca, Robinson and Day, who are all up for election this November, live in separate voting districts, but DeLuca said it happened by coincidence.

"The maps were created based on population deviation and input we received," he said.