Minneapolis website.
At redistricting public hearing last Wednesday Margaret Anderson Keilliher
requested a change to the Seventh Ward’s boundaries.
A miniscule portion of Bryn Mawr, north of Bryn Mawr Meadows, had been placed
in the Fifth Ward.
Keilliher testified that although ‘no one lived there,’ this sliver of Bryn
Mawr was of interest to Bryn Mawr Neighborhood Association for future
development.
Someone countered that this area could be developed regardless of which ward it
was located.
Was Keilliher being transparent in this request to redraw the Seventh Ward
northern boundary?
CM Lisa Goodman is building her new home north of Bryn Mawr Meadows so someone
will live there and that someone needs to remain in the Seventh Ward if they
chose to run for re-election.
Residents of the Seward community protested their community divided between the
Sixth and Second Ward. The redistricting committee acceded to their request.
Curiously, the new Sixth Ward and Second Ward Redistricting Terms leaves
Franklin Terrace west of the Mississippi clinging to the Second Ward.
So, while the redistricting committee may not have been nonpartisan (there is
one party seated on the City Council—the Green Party member having been
co-opted by the DFL), it may have shown peculiar deference to incumbents.
Gary Dombouy
Whittier