And then there was one: Jacksonville committee recommends redistricting map

The Jacksonville City Council will start its crunch-time debate Friday on a new redistricting map based on a plan that keeps the same balance of power between Republicans and Democrats for district seats on City Council.

Council President Terrance Freeman said the City Council meeting slated to start at 9 a.m. Friday will go as long as it takes to produce a new map ordered by U.S. District Judge Marcia Morales Howard.

“I’m packing lunch, I’m packing dinner and I’m bringing a sleeping bag,” Freeman said.

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After the council's redistricting committee went through a twisting debate Thursday about how candidates for the spring 2023 election would be affected, the committee rejected making several substantial changes to the plan known as the “maroon map.”

The committee of City Council members ended up voting 7-0 for a version that’s close to the original maroon map that had emerged Tuesday as the early favorite among committee members.

The full City Council will take up that map on Friday and have its own opportunities to make amendments. The city must get its finalized proposal to Howard by Tuesday as part of a federal case brought by civil rights organizations who successfully sued the city on grounds that the prior redistricting map approved in March used unconstitutional racial gerrymandering.

If council does not get a map to Howard by Nov. 8, the deadline will extend to Nov. 18. However, the plaintiffs will also turn in a map if council chooses that option, and the judge will decide which map to pick.

The latest map will have to pass with a two-thirds majority vote from City Council. Any member not present will automatically count as a vote against.

The city still has not provided any data on the racial makeup of districts in its proposed map, even as residents have repeatedly said the city risks failing to comply with the federal Voting Rights Act that protects Black voters from losing clout at the ballot box.

City General Counsel Jason Teal has said the city did not have enough time to develop an analysis it could defend in court for assessing the latest redistricting effort under the Voting Rights Act.

He said Thursday the city and its consultant have used analysis presented by the civil rights organizations in the federal court case to assess whether the city’s own map would pass review under the Voting Rights Act.

“Spoiler alert – all the maps will comply with that VRA analysis,” Teal told the redistricting committee without elaborating.

Riverside and Avondale would stay together in same district

In a significant difference from the original maroon map, the committee supported putting the entire Riverside and Avondale part of the city into District 10, represented now by Brenda Priestly Jackson.

The maroon map had split the historic neighborhood into three council districts by keeping part of it in District 14, represented now by Randy DeFoor, while putting two other portions in District 8 and District 10. Riverside Avondale Preservation advocates turned out in force at the Wednesday committee meeting and sent dozens of emails urging the neighborhood remain in a single council district.

The committee also considered three versions of the original maroon map that would have affected the proposed boundaries for District 7, represented now by Reggie Gaffney, and District 8, whose council member is Ju’Coby Pittman. The revamp also would have shifted around the maroon map’s boundaries for District 9, represented by Tyrona Clark-Murray, and also District 10.

Pittman petitioned the committee to bring her district more north-bound than originally presented in the maroon map during Wednesday’s meeting. In doing so, maps presented Thursday shifted District 8 from encompassing downtown and Springfield to instead enveloping a large area north of the Trout River, effectively moving District 7 completely.

“It’s a whole new District 7,” council member Sam Newby said and asked for more discussion.

That change would have put Pittman’s home in the same district as the home of Reggie Gaffney Jr., who is favored to win a special election Tuesday for the seat held now by his father.

The three versions of the revamped maroon maps also would have split the historic Springfield neighborhood into two City Council districts, creating the same kind of division the committee was trying to correct in Riverside and Avondale.

Committee members also heard concerns about proposed boundaries splitting the King-Soutel Community Redevelopment Area in Northwest Jacksonville.

As questions mounted, support evaporated for the more extensive changes in the three alternative maroon maps presented Thursday by map-drawing consultant Douglas Johnson.

“Are there not versions D, E and F because I think the three versions you presented to us today cause a lot of problems,” council member Aaron Bowman said.

Committee moves to protect election candidates

From the start of the redistricting process, City Council directed the map-drawing team to protect incumbents by keeping them in their current districts in the new map. Teal told the committee Thursday that was a policy decision, not a legal requirement.

Council members did not previously direct the office to protect candidates in upcoming elections but chose to consider them during Thursday's meeting – in part due to public pressure and in part to internal committee debate.

The new maps drew District 7 in an area where parts of Districts 9, 10 and 12 are under the 2011 map, meaning the candidate elected in the special election Nov. 8, either Charles Barr or Reggie Gaffney Jr., would represent a district that no longer existed in that configuration.

More on the District 7 special election: Jacksonville City Council special election candidates Gaffney, Barr prepare for runoff

Regardless of redistricting, the winner will have to run again in March during full general City Council elections to keep a seat on council. Under the maps presented Thursday, however, the person would be living in the redrawn District 8.

Reggie Gaffney Sr., the current District 7 City Council member, spoke out against the move as well, saying he was still a member of the council and moving the district was disrespectful.

Choosing to return to the maroon map as presented Wednesday – after council members, including Vice President Ron Salem, Bowman and Newby, discussed the need to protect District 7 candidates – eliminated the issue by shifting District 7 back to Northwest Jacksonville.

Pittman told the committee she did not foresee her request shifting the map as significantly as it did. She asked Johnson to explore options in which she could reclaim some of the northwest quadrant of District 7 without moving it completely.

Separately, several members of the public spoke against the relocation of San Mateo into District 7 on the maroon map, some in support of District 2 candidate Mike Gay who lives in the area.

Under the 2011 map, the area is in Republican-majority District 2 represented by Al Ferraro. District 7 is a Democrat majority district.

Ferraro requested the change Wednesday, ultimately leading to limited discussion and dismissal from the committee. Several speakers during the public comment portion of the meeting called for the recusal of the Republican members of the committee – five out of the six members – because of campaign support for District 2 candidate Lindsey Brock.

“This action/nonaction by the committee brings to surface a greater issue,” Gay wrote in an email to the committee before speaking at the meeting. “This committee is clearly focused on removing me from (District 2) to clear a path for my opponent.”

Freeman said after the meeting he “would love to just go to the people and let them decide” on whether to protect candidates during redistricting, but he hoped that the full council would be able to debate and decide how to "be consistent" when considering candidates both in the November and spring elections.

Freeman acted as a mediator in meetings so far but said after Thursday’s meeting he would be giving more of his opinions Friday after listening to the public Thursday evening and Friday.

Friday's meeting will offer three minutes for public comment and last until the council votes on a final map.

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Jacksonville City Council gets new redistricting map to approve