Redistricting
City Council voted final approval 15 - 2 on redrawn maps of the city's 10 Council Districts. The new divisions will take effect during the 2015 Municipal Elections.
Concerned that public hearings will occur too late in the process to take the public views into account- Council has had six months, they got a late start- the Committee of Seventy wrote to City Council President Anna Verna to ask that Council extend time for public input past the September 9 redistricting deadline.
CITY Council AGREES TO PUBLIC HEARINGS (August 9, 2011)
City Council scheduled to hearings to hear public testimony on redistricting following requests from the Committee of Seventy that Council adhere to pledges in a June 23 resolution to hold “community based hearings” to “create an open and transparent opportunity for public engagement and input.”
The non-partisan Committee of Seventy expressed deep disappointment in City Council for reneging on its pledge to “hold public community based hearings” in order to “create an open and transparent opportunity for public engagement and input” in the citywide redistricting process. Council’s pledge was contained in a resolution passed on June 23. Council President Anna Verna announced August 2 that Council would hold a redistricting hearing in City Hall on August 16.
It’s City Council’s job to draw the boundaries of its 10 districts. Council members have only six months after the census population figures are released to come up with a redistricting plan – or they stop getting paid. (This really happened in 1991 and 2001.) On June 23 City Council will vote on a resolution to get the redistricting ball rolling. This IN THE KNOW explains the traditionally behind-closed-doors and complex redistricting process in simple terms.
The Committee of Seventy proposed a 15-step plan for citywide redistricting that guarantees more transparency and fairness to city voters than has existed in the past. The plan highlights Philadelphia’s chance to be a leader in involving the public in the redistricting process and the national trend towards shedding more light on local redistricting efforts. Seventy’s recommendations call for creating a Redistricting Committee, comprised of all district and at‐large members of City Council, to oversee the redistricting process.
Visit www.redistrictingthenation.com, a joint project of the Committee of Seventy and Azavea, for more information on federal, state, and local redistricting.
