xml:space="preserve">
xml:space="preserve">
Advertisement
Advertisement

Council will table redistricting plan to hold January work session

The County Council plans to table legislation that would change the council district boundaries for the next decade so it can hold a public work session on the redistricting plan in January, according to council Chairwoman Mary Kay Sigaty.

The redistricting plan, selected by the Councilmanic Redistricting Commission in October in a 4-3 party-line vote favoring the Democrats, has been criticized by residents of the Wheatfield and Brampton Hills neighborhoods in Ellicott City, who would move from District 1 to District 2.

Advertisement

Those residents say their neighborhoods should remain in District 1 because of their common interest and history with other neighborhoods in the district, and they contend they are only being moved for political reasons.

The most recent council hearing on the plan, held Monday. Dec. 19, drew 74 opponents from the two Ellicott City neighborhoods, although only a few spoke. The hearing was just the latest forum in which Wheatfield and Brampton Hills residents have expressed their concerns about the plan to council members and commission members.

Advertisement
Advertisement

"We the people have expressed our opposition and hope it does not fall on deaf ears, only because it is easier that way," Wheatfield resident James Weidemann said at Monday's hearing.

An official council vote to table the redistricting bill — the only piece of legislation the council introduced in December, besides resolutions to appoint constituents to fill various openings on county boards and commissions — will take place at the council's Jan. 3 legislative meeting.

The council is not required to hold a work session on the legislation, but Sigaty said the council owes it to the residents who have concerns.

Council work sessions are usually held the fourth Monday of the month in which the legislation was filed, but the county offices are closed for the holidays next week, so a session could not be scheduled on the redistricting plan this month. A date has not yet been set for the January work session.

Recommended on Baltimore Sun

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement