That story should resonate with Philadelphians in the coming weeks as City Council once again adjusts district lines to reflect shifts in the population found in the 2010 census. Some of the most contentious fights among city politicians have been about redistricting, with the winners reflecting who was in power.
Councilwoman Maria Quiñones-Sánchez has to be very concerned about redistricting. Her Seventh District already could be mistaken for some type of amphibian, if not a salamander.
Redistricting in 2001 diluted the strength of Latino voters, but didn't prevent the election of the city's first Latina councilwoman in 2007. Her reelection, though, is less assured because of the district's current configuration, which stretches it to the Northeast to add non-Hispanic voters.
Both the Seventh and the Fifth District, represented by Councilman Darrell Clarke, are consistently ranked among the worst examples of gerrymandering in the country. The fight over redrawing the Fifth in 2001 resulted in Council members' not getting paid because they didn't meet the deadline to finish redistricting within six months of a new census. That battle had more to do with which district would get some rather wealthy Center City addresses.
There is no reason for a repeat of past redistricting wars. With five Council members retiring and a sixth facing a stiff challenge in the May 17 primary, this Council has an opportunity to put everything aside except equitable representation in drawing new district lines. Its six-month deadline expires on Oct. 1, so it needs to get started as soon as it can.
The good-government group Committee of Seventy offers the best advice for this effort: Keep the process open. It's the backroom wheeling and dealing that lead to salamander-looking voting districts. As Azavea points out, the legally required goal is "compact" districts, not elongated vehicles designed to reelect pols.
