The Baltimore County Council took it on the chin once again Tuesday night for making last minute changes behind closed doors to a proposed redrawing of the council’s district lines.
Critics say it has mishandled the process by drawing up secret maps that weaken the political power of non-white voters.
Hours before Tuesday night’s public hearing on redistricting, council members Mike Ertel and Izzy Patoka, both Democrats, introduced a new map. Ertel said they made changes people say they wanted.
“I’ve gotten thousands and thousands of emails,” Ertel said. “I’ve taken hundreds of phone calls about this.”
The new map creates a district on the county’s west side in which a majority of its residents would be people of color. There are two additional majority Black districts on the west side as well. The council’s original map had just the two majority Black districts.
A number of people told the council that was a step in the right direction, but that it did not go far enough.
Roland Patterson with the Baltimore County Branch of the NAACP pointed out that under the new map, white voters would be in the majority in six of the nine council districts, although people of color make up nearly half of the population.
Patterson asked, “What population is excluded? What will you say to that population? What is the explanation to that population?”
Maureen Wambui said there should be another district on the east side of the county in which people of color make up a majority.
“Do not overconcentrate Black voters in the west to meet a target number while starving the east of influence. Balance is the goal,” Wambui said.
Currently, all but one of the members of the council are white.
But others like Tamara Gunter, who lives in the Greenleigh community on the east side, favor the new map, saying it does a better job of keeping neighborhoods together.
Gunter said, “I am seeing all of these people just come out of the woodwork, and saying ‘oh we’re not in favor. We need a Black district.’ Just because you’re Black doesn’t mean you’re going to get my vote.”
Councilman Julian Jones, a Democrat, said the council has been going down the wrong road for months creating multiple maps, including one that was privately drawn up last year. When Baltimore County voters approved in November expanding the county council to nine seats, the referendum was tied to that first council-drawn map.
“A map that was traded for three (Republican) votes to expand the council,” Jones said.
He wants next Monday’s scheduled vote on the new map to be delayed so people have more time to weigh in.
Councilman Pat Young, a Democrat, agreed, saying he has not had enough time to study it.
“I don’t think it’s fair to expect the public to understand it in the five hours they’ve had to review it either.”
Councilman Patoka said Young’s problem is that he hasn’t been involved in the process.
“Others choose to opine and observe and sit on the sidelines and then come to a meeting and we hear there’s not enough time,” Patoka said.
But Young pushed back, saying there hasn’t been much of a process at all, pointing out the new map had been made public just hours before.
Young said, “And then provide or expect five hours of time between earlier this morning and this meeting and then expect to have reasonable debate. Completely ridiculous.”
Delegate Scott Phillips, a Democrat, said what’s going on here is a map has been created that gives Republicans a strong minority voice on the council.
Phillips said, “So I’m going to say something that many people won’t say. It locks in a five Democrat four Republican council, deepening partisanship rather than reflecting community needs.”
But Republican Councilman David Marks disagreed, saying the proposed map is competitive.
“A good Democrat beats a bad Republican in every single one of those districts,” Marks said.
The council needs to pass a map for the 2026 election by October 1.
