District Boundaries

The skirmishing is over, and the County Council's self-imposed deadline for redrawing district boundaries has arrived.The map the council is to adopt tomorrow, while virtually identical to the one the council put out for public hearing last month, may still hold some surprises.Two relatively minor changes were suggested at last week's work session, but others could come as late as just before the vote tomorrow night.The first change, endorsed by Paul R. Farragut, D-4th, and council chairman C. Vernon Gray, D-3rd, would keep Highland in the 5th District -- a suggestion several people made at last week's redistricting hearing.

The newly-appointed Carroll County Redistricting Committee held the first of its series of public meetings on Aug. 31. Even though Carroll County just conducted its first-ever election with five members in 2010, the committee is charged with holding deliberations on possibly reshaping the county's those five commissioner districts based on the 2010 census. The seven-member commission is composed of members of the county's Republican Central Committee, Democratic Central Committee and a member of the county Board of Elections.

Appointments to the Baltimore County Councilmanic Redistricting Commission were announced Monday. Edward W. Crizer Jr., a member of the county Board of Appeals, will serve as the commission chair. The other members are James A. Gillis, a former special assistant to the county executive who works in the county state's attorney's office; Robert E. Latshaw Jr., a member of the county Planning Board and president of Latshaw Real Estate Advisors; Anne C. Neal, president of Neal Consulting Inc.; and Ralph W. Wright, a real estate agent with Long & Foster.

Appointments to the Baltimore County Councilmanic Redistricting Commission were announced Monday. Edward W. Crizer Jr., a member of the county Board of Appeals, will serve as the commission chair. The other members are James A. Gillis, a former special assistant to the county executive who works in the county state's attorney's office; Robert E. Latshaw Jr., a member of the county Planning Board and president of Latshaw Real Estate Advisors; Anne C. Neal, president of Neal Consulting Inc.; and Ralph W. Wright, a real estate agent with Long & Foster.

Police were investigating an apparent drive-by shooting Tuesday evening in Northeast Baltimore's Rosemont East neighborhood that killed a 21-year-old man. The fatal shooting is the sixth this year in the city's Northeast District, which is one of nine districts but has seen a third of the city's homicides in 2011. The district has seen a sharp uptick in homicides in recent years, and city officials have called for police to shuffle resources and redraw district boundaries. Most of the violence has occurred in the southern part of the district, closer to East Baltimore and Herring Run Park.

According to information provided by the Baltimore County Planning Department, only three of the 19 county elementary schools projected to be near or over the 20 percent over capacity limit by September have any new housing proposed within their district boundaries. They are:* Glyndon Elementary, at 445 Glyndon Drive, Reisterstown, projected to be 18 percent over capacity, has 34 housing units planned within its district.* Hebbville Elementary, 3335 Washington Ave., near Liberty Road and the Beltway, projected to be 40 percent over capacity, has 12 housing units proposed nearby.

A county commission charged with redrawing County Council district boundaries recommended a seven-district plan last night.The Charter Revision Commission will present its plan to the County Council tomorrow.Commission members had voted, 3-2, last month to recommend increasing the number of council members from seven to nine. But after residents opposed the plan at a hearing last week, the commission decidedto recommend a seven-district plan.The map approved last night would keep the communities of Shipley's Choice and Berrywood with Severna Park in District 5, represented by Diane Evans, R-Arnold.

A commission redrawing County Council district boundaries approved two preliminary plans last night.The Charter Revision Commission favors increasing the number of council members from seven to nine butwon't make a final recommendation until after a Sept. 18 public hearing on the plans.Commission Chairman Robert D. Agee, who favors increasing the number of council members, said the workload has become too great for seven members."The charter originally intended the council to be part-time," Agee said.

An Annapolis lawyer promises to fight the state's new congressional districts down to the last man or woman.Many county political leaders appeared ready to concede defeat last week after a federal courtrejected the county's bid to block Maryland's March 3 primary elections and redraw the district boundaries.But attorney John Greiber said he still has at least two clients and will appeal the decision to the U.S. Supreme Court."It's not of paramount importance to me what the political people think or whatthey say about public groundswells," said Greiber.

County residents will be asked next week to help draw the lines on new County Council districts.A committee redrawing council districts to reflect population changes has scheduled four public hearings in different parts of the county over the next several weeks. The first is set for June 27 at Glen Burnie High School.The remaining hearings will be at Arundel High School in Gambrills July 9; the Arundel Center in Annapolis July 23; and Southern High School in Harwood Aug. 6. All hearings will begin at 7 p.m.Charter Revision Commission Chairman Robert D. Agee said the group wants toknow people's views on where district boundaries should be, how manycouncil members there should be, and whether council members should be elected all at once or in staggered terms.

Police were investigating an apparent drive-by shooting Tuesday evening in Northeast Baltimore's Rosemont East neighborhood that killed a 21-year-old man. The fatal shooting is the sixth this year in the city's Northeast District, which is one of nine districts but has seen a third of the city's homicides in 2011. The district has seen a sharp uptick in homicides in recent years, and city officials have called for police to shuffle resources and redraw district boundaries. Most of the violence has occurred in the southern part of the district, closer to East Baltimore and Herring Run Park.

While some parents urged the Baltimore County school board to adopt proposed boundaries for the new Woodholme Elementary School, a larger number turned out for a hearing on Woodholme last night to appeal to the board on other boundary issues. A majority of the approximately 50 people in the audience were there to urge the board to redistrict the housing developments of Long Meadow, Fields of Stevenson and Dumbarton Heights from Wellwood International Elementary School, which is slightly over capacity, to the slightly under-capacity Fort Garrison Elementary.

MARYLAND'S congressional races this year demonstrate clearly what a disservice the most recent redrawing of the district boundaries was to representative government. The map drawn after the 2000 Census made it easy for Democrats to claim two districts long held by Republicans, enlarging party ranks in what had been an evenly divided eight-member delegation. But the contortions of district boundaries required to achieve that goal sliced through communities and neighborhoods, often combining a hodgepodge of urban, suburban and rural voters with little in common.

South Carroll would get its own new delegate and incumbent members of the county's delegation would represent a large chunk of Baltimore County under a proposed legislative map released yesterday by a Maryland redistricting committee appointed by the governor. Though most Carroll residents would be able to vote for their current representatives in the 2002 election, the new map would blend northern Carroll into a state Senate district with northern Baltimore County, and put South Carroll into a Senate district with Howard County.

Democrats will likely maintain their strong hold on the County Council with some variation on two similar redistricting proposals that aim to increase the party's presence in Columbia. A Republican alternative - which aims to dilute Democratic power in Columbia - also is up for consideration. But with Democrats dominating the Redistricting Commission and the County Council, it's doubtful the Republicans will have much of a chance. "They have the votes," said Councilman Allan H. Kittleman, a District 5 Republican.

Some northeastern Howard County and Columbia parents are preparing to battle a possible school redistricting plan next fall.For parents at Jeffers Hill and Waterloo elementary schools, it would be a familiar fight. A possible redistricting plan for their area is similar to one that they protested when it was proposed last year. Implementation of that proposal was postponed."There will be some kind of organized opposition" if the same redistricting concept is proposed for next fall, said Barry Budish, president of the Waterloo Elementary parent-teacher organization.

A commission redrawing County Council district boundaries couldn't decide whether the council should have seven or nine members, so it will recommend two plans to the public.The Charter Revision Commission will meet this afternoon to finish work on two proposed maps, a seven-district map and a nine-district map. The council currently has seven members, each of whom represents one district.The commission will conduct a hearing Sept. 18 to find out which plan the public favors. Commission members will decide the following night which plan to propose to the County Council.

WASHINGTON -- On the eve of the 2000 census, the Supreme Court began yesterday to try to answer a prickly North Carolina question with national implications:Should race ever be a factor in drawing congressional districts?In a flurry of pointed questions, several justices seemed to suggest that the court would frown on states that made race of voters a "predominant" factor in creating district boundaries. But the justices also spoke of hypothetical cases in which race could be a very natural and perhaps secondary consideration.