Zach Coulter said: I have heard an idea perpetuated here and elsewhere that the new 3rd and 5th were gerrymandered in order to have Don Samuels and Natalie Johnson Lee run against each other and that there was a racial component to the motivation for doing so.
...I read CM Johnson-Lee say, "Redistricting happened before Don was ever elected" I'm not so concerned with what Don Samuels said or didn't say about where he would run for re-election (can I call it that?). I'm more concerned with the idea of gerrymandering for the purpose of having the only two black CM's run against each other. Because if what CM Johnson-Lee said is true it seems impossible that this was the case. Forgive me if I'm treading on well-worn territory here, it would just put my mind at ease to know the facts regarding this issue. Dean Zimmermann responds: Natalie Johnson Lee and I, along with a dozen citizens, filed a suit to overturn the new City Council redistricting map. The lawsuit sited several reasons why we thought the court should grant us relief. One of the reasons was that the 5th ward was packed. Packing is a term that the courts use to describe a phenomenon where as many racial minority people as possible are "packed" into one district, thus diminishing that group from having a meaningful impact on surrounding districts (in this case, wards). The 5th Ward went from something like a 60-65% minority ward to almost 85% minority. At the same time, the 3rd Ward which had some semblance of being half North and half Northeast, and a somewhat balanced racial mix to one in which the minority population of the ward got smaller, thus diminishing the opportunity for minorities (or Northsiders for that matter) to be elected. Someone correct me if I am wrong, but I think Don Samuels was the first minority AND the first Northsider to be elected from that river straddling ward. While it is true that Don Samuels was elected after the map was drawn and adopted, the net result of the illegal packing is that both African-American City Council Members are now forced to run against each other. Why was it necessary to carve Jordan (one of the most heavily African American neighborhoods) off of the fairly evenly racially balanced 3rd ward and attach it to the 5th Ward which was already very heavily populated with people of color? You tell me. Packing is a tried and true method of gerrymandering in order to diminish the influence of certain groups--and while the court did not agree with our assessment that this was packing, many courts many times before have thrown out redistricting maps for this very reason. I hope this answers your question. Peace, Dean Zimmermann Mpls City Council - Ward 6 [EMAIL PROTECTED] C: 612-388-1311 W: 612-673-2206 H: 612-724-3888 2200 Clinton Avenue South Minneapolis, MN 55404 Surely the most important task for all of us is to leave behind a planet that is fit for our great grandchildren to live on. So all of our personal actions, as well as our political policies, must be tempered with an eye to long term sustainability, not short term profit or expediency. As we struggle to solve the day to day problems -- crime, jobs, budget shortfalls, homelessness, traffic congestion, and air quality, we will look to solutions that serve both our immediate needs and lay the foundation for the post-petroleum economy. REMINDERS: 1. Be civil! Please read the NEW RULES at http://www.e-democracy.org/rules. If you think a member is in violation, contact the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[email protected] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
