More districts, redrawn map could bring new faces to council
Colorado Springs’ new City Council district boundaries were announced Tuesday morning, with three changes from an earlier draft.
City Clerk Sarah Johnson released redrawn council district maps in September, but made changes after a public hearing in mid-October. The alterations meet legal requirements and addressed citizen’s concerns, she said.
“This is all a big puzzle,” she said. “Whenever you start making changes and flipping things, you’re going to have unintended consequences.”
The makeup of the City Council could change significantly because of the addition of two council districts and Johnson’s new map. Johnson said she didn’t take that into account, though. Her focus was on legal requirements — each district has between 69,000 and 71,000 residents, they all protect “communities of interest” and the map complies with the federal Voting Rights Act.
There are now six City Council districts instead of four, and three at-large seats instead of five. None of the council members live in Districts 4 and 6, which will be filled in the April 2 municipal election, said Council Administrator Aimee Cox. The other districts have council members living within their borders, she said.
Two council members — Brandy Williams and Lisa Czelatdko — would have to run against each other in District 3 if they both run for a district seat, said Cox. Williams now holds at an-large seat.
At-large Councilman Tim Leigh lives in District 1 and could run for that seat, because Scott Hente is term limited. Councilwoman Angela Dougan represents District 2 and lives within its new boundaries, and Councilman Bernie Herpin lives in in the newly-created District 5.
Cox said the three remaining at-large council members aren’t up for election next year — Val Snider, Merv Bennett and Council President Pro Tem Jan Martin.
One of Johnson’s moves made the Old North End neighborhood happy — she took precinct 170 from the west side’s District 1 and put it in central Colorado Springs’ District 5. The district now includes the area from I-25 and West Uintah Street up to West Fillmore Street, and spreads east and southeast from there to North Powers Boulevard.
A representative of the group posted on ONEN’s Facebook page that the map “respects (sic) the integrity of ONEN and put us all in District 5.”
Johnson also moved precinct 127 — southwest of the corner of North Union Boulevard and Austin Bluffs Parkway — from District 5 to District 1. And she moved the immense precinct 420 — east of Peterson Air Force Base and just south of East Woodmen Road — from District 4 to District 6.
Rachel Beck, who is on the board of the Council of Neighbors and Organizations, said Johnson’s map may violate the legal requirement to keep “communities of interest” together. In particular, she said, minority and low-income neighborhoods on the south side were unfairly split. Keeping them together, she said, wouldn’t take much effort.
“It boggles my mind,” said Beck. “It can be done quite easily.”
Beck and others have complained that citizen input was not taken seriously, and that Johnson ignored requests from the October hearing.
CONO had an alternative map drawn in coordination with political expert Bob Loevy. But Johnson didn’t give it its full due, said Beck. Loevy served on the state redistricting commission last year, and helped redraw districts for the state Senate and House of Representatives.
City redistricting may change for 2016. The council will consider possible changes to the process in the next few weeks, said Cox, and will likely issue an ordinance by February calling for more public participation.
But this year’s map is final. Johnson doesn’t need the approval of council or the mayor, and so the district boundaries for the April 2 election are set.
Colorado Springs City Council Photo by