It being election day and all, and as I prepare to head off to vote, some questions are occurring to me about the situation my area of the city seems to be in regarding our city council representation.
I am in the Holland neighborhood which has been in Ward 3. According to the redistricting plan, all of Holland is to become part of Ward 1. However, the citizen lawsuit regarding the redistricting (Full Disclosure: I am one of the plaintiffs) is not scheduled to go to trial until sometime in 2004. Question 1: Has an official decision been made by the city of whether the new ward boundaries are now in effect or whether the old ones are in effect until the lawsuit is resolved? (While this doesn't impact any of the races being decided today, it should determine which council member now represents me). Question 2: If the trial now getting underway of Ward 3 CM Biernat results in him leaving office, and a special election is held sometime in the near future, will the old Ward 3 or proposed new Ward 3 boundaries be used? Question 3: If the new Ward 3 boundaries are used for a special election, what then happens if the lawsuit prevails and Ward 3 must be re-redistricted? Question 4: If the old Ward 3 boundaries are used, and the lawsuit does not result in the re-redistricting of Ward 3, what then happens? Question 5: Is the city prepared to conduct a special election based on the old Ward 3 boundaries? I have heard that the primary election voter data-base used the new precincts but the Redistricting Notice card I received in the mail earlier this Fall didn't list which ward I am in. It seems like there may be some thorny issues involved...can anyone shed some light on this? Bruce Shoemaker Holland neighborhood/NE Mpls Ward...3? _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:mpls@;mnforum.org Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
