Let the redistricting begin

We’re a few weeks away from getting final Census data that will be used to redraw the boundaries for Houston City Council districts (and everything else), but here’s an early look at what to expect from the process.

City Attorney David Feldman said the city will redraw the district lines based on demographic information gleaned from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2010 population survey. The city planning department will come up with recommendations for the council by April 6, he said.

The city’s criteria will be based on creating districts with relatively equal populations, easily identifiable boundaries that maintain neighborhoods and communities of interest, that are contiguous, and that avoid concentrating minorities in only one area or in so many areas that their voting power is diluted, Feldman said.

Multiple public hearings and town hall meetings will be held before and after the planning department delivers its recommendations, and Parker promised it will be an inclusive process.

Any alternative proposals or advocacy must take into account the needs of the entire city, [Mayor Annise Parker] said.

“I have already seen individuals who are creating their own fantasy districts,” she told the council, suggesting that a lot of headaches could be avoided by remembering that “this is about a plan that redistricts the entire city.”

Parker elaborated in a news conference afterward: “The temptation is going to be for groups to say ‘You have to draw a seat that does X,’ ” she said. “We have to balance all of the issues at once and come out with a complete plan.”

Apparently, the Mayor was referring to Greg’s maps; he gives his response here. As Greg points out, anyone can run Daves Redistricting App on their personal computers, so trying to warn off the fantasy players strikes me as being about as useful and effective as imploring people to stop downloading music. More to the point, a truly transparent process should allow for this kind of input; indeed, it should welcome it. Nobody is going to get everything they want out of redistricting, but at least this way people can come to understand just how much work it is to accommodate all of the competing interests.

Honestly, I’d like to see people take the time and effort to put together a map they think is fair and can pass Justice Department muster, and then to advocate for it. Redistricting is often described as the time when the officeholders choose their voters, so why shouldn’t the voters take a turn at it? If you want to have a crack at it, start with the video of the Mayor’s Report from Wednesday’s Council meeting (parts 1 and 2). You have till May 6 to submit a plan that draws boundaries for all 11 districts and which conforms to all of the criteria Feldman lays out in that video. Best of luck to you if you try. Campos and Nancy Sims have more.

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