Ward redistricting agreement…really?

According to the Chicago Sun-Times' Fran Spielman late evening Jan. 16, there is agreement on a new map that has 18 Black majority wards and 13 Hispanic majority wards with two Hispanic "influence " wards.  However, the City Council vote will probably not happen before Thursday.

Last week two public meetings were held, one in the Lincoln Park area the other on the South Side. Attendees of both meetings indicated that residents were outraged and mainly felt that despite the meetings, nothing that was said would influence the results. However, one of the reasons for the final vote to be no earlier than Thursday is that 25th Ward Alderman Danny Solis, chairman of the Hispanic Caucus, wants to wait until after a Wednesday night hearing before Hispanic voters. In addition they want to be assured that the compromise will be legally viable.

In this compromise, the 20th Ward will stay on the South Side, not moved to the North Side. The Black Caucus will keep everything they have except the 15th Ward which will become a super-majority Hispanic Ward. However, as they have currently carved up the wards, there is a deviation from the requirement of 52,900 voters per ward.

Legal opinions that have come from D.C. as well as both the Black and Hispanic Caucuses are that the deviations are within legal limits.

Six incumbent aldermen who will be greatly effected by this new reconfiguration. The 15th Ward Alderman Toni Foulkes and the 16th's Joann Thompson will be in the same Ward; Bob Fioretti's home will no longer be in his 2nd Ward; and 11th Ward's Jim Balcer, 36th Ward's Nick Sposato and 23rd Ward's Mike Zalewski will have their constituencies in jeopardy.

Not only do 41 alderman have to agree on the final map, which legally was to have be ratified by Dec. 1, 2011, but the compromise must meet requirements to avoid a legal battle like the one that cost Chicago Taxpayers $30 million in 1990 and would no doubt be higher this time around.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel is certainly interested in seeing an end to this challenge. What do you think?