On heels of Minneapolis elections, commission begins debate on redrawing districts

The Minneapolis Charter Commission has begun redrawing the lines for City Council wards and Park Board districts, a process that will influence who holds power in the city for the next decade.

An early attempt to redraw half the City Council wards last week would have moved two Black incumbents from their districts, though commissioners retracted that plan after some residents said they should respect voters' wishes in the recent elections. Park Board members, meanwhile, have urged commissioners not to dilute the voices of people of color by placing them in larger districts than white residents.

Minneapolis residents will have a chance to offer opinions during a public hearing Wednesday, the first of at least four scheduled as the commissioners attempt to redraw political boundaries ahead of the 2023 council elections.

"This is a chance for us to get feedback and find out what people want," said Charter Commission Chair Barry Clegg.

The city is legally required to readjust the lines every decade after new census data is released to ensure wards have a roughly equal population. The 2020 census placed Minneapolis' population just shy of 430,000, up nearly 50,000 from the count 10 years prior. Roughly half of the city's 13 council wards now need to be adjusted.

The commission and its group of citizen advisers took over the redistricting process after the 2010 census, amid a push to reduce the influence of political parties.

The Charter Commission has drawn criticism from those who pushed to overhaul policing in the city after the commission blocked one attempt to replace the Minneapolis Police Department and pushed through a proposal to give the mayor more power.

Some activists accuse the largely white commission of hiding behind procedure to thwart the democratic process. Others view the commissioners as a crucial check on elected officials.

The commissioners meet with citizen advisers they've selected to provide input. The advisers can suggest changes, but only commissioners can vote on the final map. Together, they form the Redistricting Group.

Last week, over the course of two meetings, the group attempted to produce a draft map for residents' feedback at the public hearing this week.

On Wednesday, they began discussing alterations to council wards based on neighborhood boundaries and locations of other interest groups. Those initial changes would have moved LaTrisha Vetaw, who had just ousted incumbent Phillipe Cunningham in a landslide, out of her ward, and would have moved newly reelected council member Jeremiah Ellison into incumbent Lisa Goodman's ward.

Partway through the revisions, Commissioner Andrew Kozak interjected: "Before we leave, I think we need to revisit Ward 4, because I think what happened, we redistricted Council Member-elect Vetaw out of the Fourth Ward."

That set off a debate. Some commissioners argued they should consider incumbents' addresses to provide residents with consistency and to respect the will of voters who had just cast ballots the week before.

Others argued that constituted gerrymandering and that residents would better be served by lines drawn based on their needs and blind to politicians' addresses.

When they returned for another meeting Friday, Clegg presented a legal opinion offered by a city attorney, who said case law allowed them to consider incumbents' addresses at the end of the process.

Clegg said he believed they should do just that, saying it would be "consistent with state and federal law and basic fairness."

"I also think it would be outrageous for this group to draw two Black council members out of their wards less than two weeks after they were elected."

The group undid the changes that would have moved Vetaw and Ellison out of their wards.

The Park Board also has raised concerns about the redistricting group's work. Earlier this month, the Park Board approved a resolution stating the borders intersecting the central Minneapolis districts and the majority-white districts of south Minneapolis likely violated a state law that prohibits redistricting that dilutes the voting strength of racial or language minority populations.

They noted that Districts 1, 2, 3, and 4, where many people of color live, had higher population counts than Districts 5 and 6.

Minneapolis residents can participate in the first public hearing on the proposed maps at 4 p.m. Wednesday. Another hearing is scheduled for Dec. 15, and at least two more are expected next year. The Charter Commission has until March 29 to adopt a final map.

Staff writer Susan Du contributed to this report.

Liz Navratil • 612-673-4994