Last month the Berkeley City Council considered seven submitted maps that aim to adjust council district boundaries to correct for population and demographic changes across the city. The council voted to grant further consideration to two plans — the ASUC-endorsed student district map and a similar map designed by Eric Panzer — both of which would create a student-majority district with the aim of creating a new seat on the council for a student. In doing so, it approved a motion by Councilman Gordon Wozniak (seconded by Councilman Darryl Moore) to eliminate from Council consideration a redistricting map submitted by the Berkeley Neighborhoods Council (BNC).
In an Opinionator piece published today, Jacquelyn McCormick argues that the BNC map needs to be put back on the table for consideration as it is the only redistricting map submitted which was based on the dual principles of creating a majority student district and keeping neighborhood groups together under one Council representative.
“It is clear that keeping neighborhoods together strengthens neighborhood input; splitting neighborhoods between representatives results in no-one on the Council being accountable,” McCormick writes.
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