Ravenswood to be split into two wards under Black Caucus remap proposal

A proposal unveiled yesterday by the Chicago City Council Black Caucus would split the Ravenswood community between the 40th and the 47th Wards. The two wards boundaries would move south by about one mile under the proposal.

The proposal is the first in what promises to be a contentious debate over redistricting in the city, a once a decade process of giving equal weight to each voter in legislative bodies.

The caucus proposed 19 majority black wards and 13 majority Hispanic wards in the 50 member chamber. Previously there had been 20 majority black wards and eleven Hispanic wards.

The city’s Hispanic population has grown by about 25,000 in the last decade while the city’s black population has fallen by about 181,000, according to census figures. Caucasian populations have also fallen.

The caucus, which was unanimous in its proposal, is seeking to maintain the number of black wards through a theory called non- retrogression. That legal idea is that once granted, a right may not be taken away. The caucus holds that non-retrogression requires every effort must be made to guarantee at least 20 black wards in the remap.

The 40th and the 47th Wards would move about one mile south under the proposal.  Parts of Horner Park East and all of Lincoln Square and Ravenswood north of Montrose would be placed in the 40th Ward if the map is adopted.

Ravenswood Manor, currently in the 33rd Ward, would be represented by the 39th Ward. The 39th Ward would also represent some areas in Budlong Woods. Ravenswood Manor is currently districted into the 33rd Ward.

Both the 40th and the 47th Wards would extend west of the Chicago River to represent areas in Irving Park.

Andersonville, currently represented by four wards, would find most of the business district north of Foster represented by the 48th Ward. The business district south of Foster by the 46th Ward.

The 47th Ward southern boundary would extend to about Wrightwood and would include most of Roscoe Village.

Lathrop Homes and parts of western Roscoe Village would be in the 38th Ward.

Some adjustments were also proposed in the boundaries on the eastern side of the 40th and the 47th Wards.

The caucus noted that it had not worked with Hispanic aldermen on the proposal. In answer to a question from The Bulldog, it also noted it has not presented or consulted with political power houses such as Joe Berrios, Michael Madigan, Dick Mell, Pat O’Connor or Ed Burke about their plan.

It also did not use a state Voting Rights Act doctrine called minority influence district. Finally, the caucus noted it did not take into account Asian communities as they are not a protected minority.

The minority influence district holds that if a minority has a sizable population, but not a majority, the population should not be divided into multiple districts. The theory allowed a sizable, but still minority, population of Asians to be considered in the drawing of districts north and west of Ravenswood.

A concern the caucus did apparently consider were the home address of current aldermen. They noted that no incumbent would be required to run against another incumbent under their plan.

The caucus also provided evidence they considered neighborhood communities in its proposal.

A neighborhood community is a city defined area. There is no city defined area called Ravenswood. The area we generally consider Ravenswood is comprised of two other communities, North Center and Lincoln Square.

State legislators heard considerable testimony about communities of interest, a term that drilled down deeper into our city, considering such things as churches, schools, ethnic groups and other geographic areas with a shared sense of identity.

 

Ward	Alderman	Democratic Committeeman	Republican Committeeman	Minority
1	Joe Moreno	Jesse Ruben Juarez	Kathleen Cordes	Hispanic
32	Scott Waguespack	John Fritchey	John Curry
33	Dick Mell	Dick Mell	Lisa Reed	Hispanic
38	Timothy Cullerton	Patricia J Cullerton	Kevin Edward White
39	Margaret Laurino	Randy Barnette	William Miceli
40	Pat O’Connor	Pat O’Connor	Steve Seiling
43	Michele Smith	Michele Smith	Doug Glick
44	Thomas Tunney	Thomas Tunney	Jim Fuchs
46	James Cappleman	Tom Sharpe	Diane Shapiro
47	Ameya Pawar	Eugene Schulter	David Ratowitz
48	Harry Osterman	Carol Ronen	Adam Robinson
50	Debra Silverstein	Ira Silverstein	Kenneth Hollander