Politics & Government
9 Precincts Would Move in County Council Proposal
The map presented Tuesday is much different from the one recommended by the Decennial Redistricting Commission.
UPDATE (10:31 p.m.)—Nine precincts would shift to new council districts in a proposed map introduced by the Harford County Council at Tuesday’s legislative session.
All seven council members the primary recommendation of the three-member, . But the new boundaries are very similar to the .
“We thought their first choice was a little too aggressive,” Council President Billy Boniface told Patch after the meeting. He said the second map they presented served as a "blueprint" for what was proposed in the bill.
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Here are all the proposed changes:
Precinct Location Population Current District Proposed District 1-02 Joppa-Magnolia Fire Hall 2,851 A (Guthrie) B (Woods) 1-07 Trinity Lutheran School 2,649 A (Guthrie) B (Woods) 1-13 St. Frances de Sales Church Hall 4,431 B (Woods) F (Lisanti) 1-15 Abingdon Elementary School Gym 4,301 B (Woods) A (Guthrie) 3-13 Bel Forest Christian Academy 4,052 C (McMahan) B (Woods) 3-24 Christ Church Rock Spring 3,484 C (McMahan) D (Shrodes) 3-19 3,690 E (Slutzky) C (McMahan) 6-05 Roye Williams Elementary School 209 F (Lisanti) E (Slutzky) 1-10 William Paca Elementary School 4,001 F (Lisanti) A (Guthrie)
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Boniface said the council worked hard to come to a consensus on all changes before they were introduced Tuesday.
“I told them, ‘You need to have the agreement of the colleague you moved a precinct from,’” he said. “We’ve been working out our differences.”
The council president doesn’t expect any amendments from the five Republicans—including himself—and two Democrats on the council.
“At this point I think we’ve pretty much hashed out everything we need. We’re so restricted,” he said. “I had a little concern between [District] B and A, but they worked out what they wanted.”
The county population, according to the census, is 245,394, making the target population for each district 40,899. Here are the existing and proposed populations based on the redrawn map in the bill:
District Population Proposed Change Proposed Population A 38,064 +2,802 40,866 B 41,303 +820 42,123 C 43,029 -3,846 39,183 D 38,396 +3,481 41,880 E 42,574 -3,481 39,093 F 42,028 +221 42,249
A public hearing for the bill is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Nov. 15. The council has until Nov. 22 to approve its own map before the commission’s recommendation would go into effect.
