Voces de la Frontera urges Mayor Barrett to veto Milwaukee aldermanic district maps, pushing for more Latino representation
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Immigrants rights organization Voces de la Frontera is urging Mayor Tom Barrett to veto aldermanic district maps the Common Council approved on Nov. 23.
The group, with its own redistricting commission, voiced concerns about the map-making process, saying it was rushed and did not provide the much-desired third Latino district in a letter to Barrett.
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Voces de la Frontera has proposed a new map to the city that would include a new near-majority, or “influence” Latino district on the south side, with 46% of the residents identifying as Latino. This proposal would see District 13 include 12 contiguous majority Latino wards, as opposed to the current map that has Latino representation as smaller “influence districts” in Districts 13 and 14. As it stands, the city currently has two strong majority Latino Districts 8 and 12.
The city’s Latino communities now represent 20.1% of the total city population, per new census data issued in Aug. 2021.
“As populations grow, so should political power and representation,” Christine Neumann-Ortiz, Executive Director of Voces de la Frontera, wrote in a statement. “These maps are important because they will impact the political power of Milwaukee's growing Latinx population to have a fair and equal voice in our city for the next decade.
“The rushed process of passing a new map, while not intentional, contributed to a lack of meaningful engagement from the community,” she said.
This comes after a two-month-long countywide redistricting process wrought with delays and doubts and concerns from community leaders and some city officials about insufficient community input.
District 8 Ald. JoCasta Zamarripa was the only person to vote against the new aldermanic district lines, saying that she would have preferred to see more Latino influence in the south’s District 13, currently represented by Ald. Scott Spiker.
A spokesman for Barrett said Monday that the mayor was reviewing the map and discussing it with "a wide variety of people." He declined to say with whom Barrett was consulting.
Barrett is expected to make a decision this week about whether he will sign off on the map that was passed on a 14-1 vote by the Common Council Nov. 23.
Contact Vanessa Swales at 414-308-5881 or vswales@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @Vanessa_Swales.
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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Voces de la Frontera urges Barrett to veto Milwaukee election maps
