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Mayor Wu signs City Council-approved redistricting map into law
The controversial map, dubbed the "unity map," had sparked tensions on the council in recent weeks.
Redistricting in Boston
UPDATE: Boston Mayor Michelle Wu on Monday signed into law a hotly-debated new political map approved by the City Council last week.
Supporters have said the map aims to give more political agency to communities of color — thereby meeting the city’s legal charge under the federal Voting Rights Act to ensure voters of color can freely elect candidates without being routinely and systemically outnumbered by white voters at the ballot boxes in their districts.
A spokesperson for Wu said the mayor was advised by the city’s legal counsel that the map complied with federal law.
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Barring any legal issues detected by the city’s Law Department, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu says she will likely sign into law the map establishing new City Council districts that has sparked tensions and controversy on the council in recent weeks.
On WCVB’s “On the Record” Sunday, Wu said her administration had already been reviewing each proposed map to ensure they adhere to legal requirements set under the Voting Rights Act and other parameters.
The city’s legal counsel is now double checking the council-backed map for compliance, she said.
“Assuming that looks good, as we think it will, I will likely sign it,” Wu said.
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In a veto-proof, 9-4 vote last week, councilors passed what proponents dubbed the “unity map,” a proposal, they contend, that aims to give more political agency to communities of color as required by federal statute.
The entire redistricting process happens once every 10 years, by law, to ensure Boston’s nine council districts have approximately equal populations.
Councilors have sought to have the map settled by their self-imposed deadline on Monday. Although the deadline is not legally required, councilors have said approving a map after that date could present timing challenges around residency requirements for any candidates looking to run in the next election cycle.
The “unity map” was unveiled in mid-October.
The minority of councilors who voted against the map have been vocal in their criticism, however. They argue changes made by the map — particularly in Dorchester and South Boston — split their neighborhoods up and divide their communities.
“I think in some ways, had there been more time, had there been an earlier start, there would have been fuller conversations,” Wu said Sunday on WCVB. “But a lot did happen in the last few weeks.”
Heated debate on the council stoked racial strains on an already divided council.
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And attacks turned personal last week when map opponent Councilor Frank Baker insinuated Redistricting Committee Chair Councilor Liz Breadon was discriminating against Catholic voters in his district, evoking the Catholic vs. Protestant nature of the violent “Troubles” in Northern Ireland’s history.
Breadon, a Protestant immigrant from Northern Ireland, called Baker’s words “an absolute disgrace.”
Though he soon apologized, Baker later doubled down on his comments, saying in a statement that the “redistricting process in Boston has been conducted unlawfully to intentionally harm [Catholic voters] for who they are.”
Wu, on Sunday, did not specifically address the incident but said, “it’s been really disappointing and frustrating to see the kind of tone and types of attacks that have happened — personal attacks — when everyone is really trying to think about what the city needs.”
“We saw (population) growth in one particular part of the city, which means you have to lose population and lose geographic area to keep equal representation,” she said.
Wu also noted, “Redistricting is never an easy conversation.”
“I think we see that when it is the legal responsibility of just 13 individuals who are each very deeply and personally impacted by what comes of that,” said Wu, a former city councilor herself. “It adds extra layers of complexity.”
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