Some Eastern Baltimore County residents divided over councilmanic redistricting maps

Yahoo

13-05-2025

Some Eastern Baltimore County residents are divided over multiple proposals for the county's councilmanic redistricting plan, with concerns about fair representation and splitting existing communities dominating a somewhat tense hearing Monday evening.
Baltimore County's 2025 Councilmanic Redistricting Commission, a seven-member group tasked with drawing boundaries of nine new councilmanic districts, is considering two main maps ahead of the 2026 election.
The first draft map, published by the commission in April, includes two majority Black districts and one majority-minority district made up of racial and ethnic minorities.
Maryland state Del. Kathy Szeliga and Del. Ryan Nawrocki, both Republicans who represent portions of eastern Baltimore County, said they supported the first draft because it unified Middle River and Essex.
Gustavus McLeod, executive director of the Glenn L. Martin Maryland Aviation Museum, agreed.
'People who have things in common should have a common voice,' he said. 'Number 1 plan does that.'
But to Shafiyq Hinton, who ran for council in 2022, the first map is a 'clear effort to crack, dilute and silence diverse voices on the east side,' he said.
However, a second draft map proposed by Lisa Belcastro, a Pikesville resident who represents the existing councilmanic District 2 on the commission, would create two majority Black districts centered on Randallstown and Owings Mills, and two districts made up of people from various racial and ethnic backgrounds.
Support for the second iteration of the map was limited. Some said it looked closer to a final product, while others alleged it was backed by developers.
A third map was proposed by Keith Dorsey, Baltimore County's former budget chief. Known as the Woodlawn Approach C, his map would create two greater-majority Black districts around Woodlawn and Randallstown, as well as a simple majority-minority district on the eastern side of the county.
'It is the only plan that truly begins and ends with trying to recognize those historic communities,' he said.
Still, others argued that an entirely different map would best represent the county demographics.
A map that creates three majority Black districts on the west side, a majority BIPOC district on the east side and five majority white districts would most accurately represent Baltimore County's population, said Dana Vickers Shelley, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Maryland.
The county's population is nearly 50% people of color.
'Packing Black voters into two districts on the west side dilutes the power of Black voters by overconcentrating them in fewer districts,' she said. 'The Voting Rights Act requires that districts be drawn in a way that provides Black and BIPOC residents an equal opportunity — and I say residents, not voters, because this is what it is about: being represented.'
Tension and controversy have marked discussions about the expanding council even before county voters approved the charter amendment in November to create a nine-member council. The council currently has seven districts. Some had argued that the redrawn council boundaries could violate federal civil rights law and others threw accusations about backroom deals.
'I see so much divide amongst my Black people in this room and my Democrats, and it's a problem because we should all be standing together, Democrats, Republicans, white or Black,' said county resident Tamara Gunter.
The commission will hold its final public hearing at 6 p.m. May 19 at the Randallstown Community Center.
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