Youngstown council holds up redistricting of wards for a second opinion

Youngstown council holds up redistricting of wards for a second opinion

YOUNGSTOWN

City council is halting the redistricting of the seven wards in order to get a second opinion on proposed maps.

Meeting today, the legislators voted 5-1 to recommend it seek proposals from another entity to look at redistricting the wards. A vote at the next council meeting, Sept. 18, is needed to move forward with that process.

The city has spent $8,000 for Youngstown State University’s Center for Urban and Regional Studies to provide ward data and provide several maps that divided the seven wards into more even populations than now.

Some council members opposed the maps — particularly one that didn’t include the 2,612 inmates from a private prison that largely houses illegal immigrants convicted of federal felonies and a state maximum security prison — proposed by YSU.

Council met three times since late June to review the proposed maps. Council needs to redistrict the seven wards to make the population of each more equitable. Council hasn’t redistricted in 30 years which has led to the ward population ranging from 7,117 to 12,130, according to the 2010 federal census.

Hiring another firm will delay the process as the city must solicit proposals, select a company, determine how much it will spend and then wait for the report.

For the complete story, read Wednesday’s Vindicator and Vindy.com