By Sarah Trauner
Baltimore Watchdog Staff Writer
A Baltimore County redistricting committee has proposed changes to the current County Council district lines that would be in effect for 10 years if approved by the council, but some state legislators, the ACLU and the NAACP say the current plan is unfair to Black voters.
In a report that was sent to the council on Oct. 6, the Councilmanic Redistricting Commission included a map that would make slight changes to the seven council district boundaries as they are now constituted.
The biggest changes would come to Districts 5 and 6, which are currently represented by Republican David Marks and Democrat Cathy Bevins, respectively.
The proposal includes minor changes to District 4, which is the only Black-majority district in the county, while the rest of the districts would maintain their White-majority status. District 4 is represented by the current council chair, Democrat Julian E. Jones Jr., the only African American on the body.
However, The Baltimore County NAACP and the ACLU of Maryland have argued that the redistricting commission’s proposed plan would unlawfully weaken the votes of Black people in violation of the landmark Voting Rights Act.
The groups have proposed an alternative council district map that they say will take into account the demographic shifts that occurred over the past 10 years, which saw the percentage of the county’s minority population grow from 35 percent in 2010 to 47 percent today.
“Shamefully, the County Commission’s proposed plan would maintain a white majority in six of seven Council districts by “packing” a supermajority of Black voters into its single majority Black district, and splitting remaining Black voters into majority-white districts, both tactics the U.S. Supreme Court has counseled against,” the two groups said in a statement released Tuesday. “Contrary to statements made by some members of the County Commission, a map can easily be drawn to provide for two strongly majority-Black districts as well as additional districts in which Black candidates will be competitive.”
State Sen. Charles E. Sydnor III, D-Baltimore County, agreed.
“I believe the County Council should reject the proposal plan and create a map that does not pack a district with a 71% Black populace,” he said.
Robert E. Latshaw Jr., the chair of the five-member redistricting commission, said the panel considered ways to increase minority representation on the council. He said the commission could not find a way to create a second minority-majority council district without diluting the votes of Black citizens in District 4 or causing other problems in the remaining six districts.
The challenge, Latshaw said, was that each council district must have roughly the same number of voters. He said the county’s population distribution and demographic concentration along with the geographic makeup of the county made it difficult to create districts that could increase the number of minorities on the council.
He said the proposed map given to the commission by the ACLU would completely disfigure Districts 1, 2, 4 and 5.
“The most relevant impediment to the two major-Black districts is demographic concentration,” Latshaw said in the report presented to the council. He added later: “In formulating the aforementioned recommendations, the Commission had to make some difficult decisions and we understand there will be groups or persons that disagree with our recommendations… Nonetheless the Commission appreciates the County Council’s consideration of its recommendations…”
The proposal now goes to the full County Council, which has to approve any redistricting plan before it takes effect.
Baltimore County has become more diverse since 2010, which was the last time the county was redistricted.
The white population dropped by 11% over the past 10 years to 51.8% of the county’s 856,673 residents. The Black population grew by 3.8% since 2010 as African Americans now make up 29.7% of the county’s population. Hispanic and Latinos make up 7.2% of the population (up 3%) and Asians make up 6.4% of the population (up 1.5%). Other minority groups make up the rest.
Latshow said the commission’s work was impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. He said the commission’s work was delayed because it did not receive census data until much later in the year than normal.
District 4, the only minority-majority district in the county, was created in 2001 during that year’s redistricting cycle. Ten years later, residents and advocates asked that a second minority-majority district be created, but to no avail.
Latshaw said there are few counties in the state that have the unique type of geographic limitations as Baltimore County. For example, he said the redistricting plan was limited somewhat because of the two peninsulas in the southeast and southwest parts the county.
District 5 was changed the most. Right now, the District stretches from Charles Street in Towson to east of Little Gunpowder Falls and the Harford County line. District 6 will also see some significant changes.
Patrick Taylor, the legislative aide for Bevins of District 6, said there are still several steps needed before the plan is approved.
“With regard to redistricting,” he said, “the process is still ongoing. So far, the redistricting commission has proposed a map. Next comes a public input meeting, which has been tentatively planned for October 27th. After that a bill will need to be introduced and voted on by the Council.”
Marks said the county should more toward with more compact and logistical districts, adding that county officials should avoid the type of gerrymandering the Democratic state legislature perpetrated 10 ten years ago when it drew legislative and congressional districts.
“The plan is still being considered by the County Council,” Marks said. “I’m keeping an open mind. A plan does not need to be adopted until January.”