Continuing population loss in Cleveland means the City Council will vote on new ward maps in early January, shrinking from 17 to 15 wards, as mandated by a 2008 charter amendment that requires the number of seats to be tied to the city's population, using Census data each decade.
Last week, Cleveland City Council President Blaine Griffin unveiled the newly-proposed ward maps for the first time, at a press conference where he called the redistricting process very difficult, but said the goal to keep neighborhoods together and use natural boundaries was imperfectly achieved.
Ward 8 Councilmember Mike Polensek praised the new maps for being more transparent than in decades past, while Ward 12 Councilmember Rebecca Maurer raised concerns about the fairness of the process.
Maurer's ward 12 will be diced into six pieces under proposed maps. On Sound of Ideas, Griffin said Maurer's neighborhood of Slavic Village, which is currently in four separate wards, will be consolidated into two wards, but according to the city's statistical planning area maps defining neighborhood boundaries, Slavic Village will fall into three wards.
On Wednesday's "Sound of Ideas," we're joined by Cleveland City Council President and Ward 6 Councilperson Blaine Griffin to talk about the new maps, the drawing process and opportunities for residents to weigh in before they're finalized.
Later in this show, we'll get an update from voters in Warren, Ohio who were featured in our "Slice of Politics" series, now that the results of the presidential election are in.
Resources:
The new maps can be found here.
Residents can share feedback by emailing maps@clevelandcitycouncil.org, calling at 216-714-3006 or leaving a public comment online.
Guests:
-Blaine Griffin, Ward 6 Councilmember & President, Cleveland City Council
-Amy Eddings, Morning Edition Host, Ideastream Public Media
-Julie Stout, Slice of Politics participant
-Paul Ringold, Slice of Politics participant
-Riley DeCavitch, Slice of Politics participant
