Gerrymandering, New Ideas Discussed at Redistricting Hearing

People in a mostly-full room at Albert Einstein Medical Center made sure five members of City Council heard their redistricting recommendations Tuesday night.

The public hearing, which was sponsored by Councilwomen Donna Reed Miller and Marian Tasco, was scheduled after residents and groups like Committee of Seventy complained there hadn't been enough chances for the public to make their opinions on the matter heard. And in some cases, they told members of council how they felt about redistricting.

Others showed them directly how they felt by making maps for the FixPhillyDistricts.com public contest, which allowed residents to come up with the best way they felt the city should be divided. The contest's winners presented their maps at the meeting Tuesday.

Council is expected to introduce legislation on the matter Thursday and wants to approve new maps by Sept. 22. Its members won't receive their salaries if the process isn't over by the end of the month.

Residents and activists who spoke at the meeting mostly echoed the words of Mayor Michael Nutter's chief of staff, Suzanne Biemiller, when during an earlier public hearing.

They also said plans should reflect existing community structures.

"Look at Philadelphia the way that its citizens do," said Jewish Social Political Action Network board member Adam Bonin.

Others said gerrymandering wasn't their primary concern.

State Rep. Mark Cohen, whose district overlaps with the city's 9th Councilmanic District, said Philadelphia isn't a city that lends itself well to clean-looking districts, just because its borders give it an odd shape.

"Compactness is a secondary goal—it's not required by state law," he said.

The council members chimed in occasionally. Miller asked Cohen about the state's redistricting process (it will likely be over by Nov. 17), and the others—Councilman William Greenlee, Councilwoman Maria Quinones-Sanchez and Council President Anna Verna—also spoke and listened.

The meeting wasn't particularly explosive. People expressed some anger when Tasco said that borders must be drawn, at least to some extent, based on where incumbents live. That provoked ire from the crowd, some of whom shouted "Why?" toward the front of the room.

Council members said they were required by law to do that.

"It's a rule of political office," Miller said. "You have to live in the district unless you change the rules. That's what you have to live by."

The 8th District wasn't discussed too often during the meeting. Two submissions that won awards the FixPhillyDistricts.com contest had a map that combined Mt. Airy and Chestnut Hill with Manayunk and Roxborough. It's unlikely that will actually happen—Mt. Airy and Chestnut Hill are expected to stay with one another and Roxborough and Manayunk will likely remain apart from them.

Cindy Bass, who won the 8th District Democratic primary in May, was there.

She said she was happy to see that there was a pretty good turnout at the meeting.

"If you want to get people to vote you have to do more than that you have to have them engaged at every level of the process," Bass said. "This is a part of the process."

Bass said she didn't have a clear idea of what the 8th District would look like once Council comes out with its maps.

"I've heard a number of different theories, and I expect I'll hear more," she said. "But I'm very anxious to see what the final product will look like."

Stay tuned for more information about the FixPhillyDistricts.com contest.