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Ballard Signs New Council Maps Into Law

In one of his last official acts as Indianapolis Mayor for his first term, Greg Ballard signed new City-County Council District maps this morning, a move that is sure to infuriate some Democrats.

The Mayor signed the ordinance which created the new maps about 10 this morning.  Democrats and other critics had complained the maps were illegal, violated the Voting Rights Act and that Republicans had rushed the process.  One of their strongest arguments were that the maps had to be adopted in 2012 and the Mayor could not sign them in 2011.

Under Indiana Code 36-3-4-3, the maps must be…

  • are compact, subject only to natural boundary lines (such as railroads, major highways, rivers, creeks, parks, and major industrial complexes);
  • contain, as nearly as is possible, equal population; and
  • do not cross precinct boundary lines.

The code also says the division shall be made during the second year after a year in which a federal decennial census is conducted and may also be made at any other time, subject to IC 3-11-1.5-32.

By signing the maps into law this morning the Mayor has fulfilled that crucial requirement of the law since 2012 is the second year after the 2010 census.  There is no rule that says the division has to be done in June, September or November, only in 2012, and 9 this morning on New Year’s Day counts as 2012.

Regardless it is still likely that a lawsuit will be filed.  The ordinance creating the maps was signed along with a few dozen other proposals.

Two points of note, the maps would not go ito effect until 2015 there is ample time for this issue to be litigated.  Despite cries of the process being rushed and ending up in court, the exact same thing happened 10 years ago where the Indiana Supreme Court ended up drawing the maps because the Democratic Mayor and Republican-controlled Council couldn’t agree on a new map and that was after months of hearings and public testimony.

There were four public hearings on the maps, about 100 citizens attended.

Posted: 01|1|12 at 3:00 pm by Abdul Hakim-Shabazz
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  • Scooter

    Good way to start the New Year. 

    My compliments to Mayor Ballard for getting p early this morning & taking care of city business.

  • Scooter

    “… for getting UP early this morning…”

  • Anonymous

    Hells yeah he did!!!! Like a BOSS!!!

  • Think Again

    Have you finished your revisionist history?

    The “exact same thing” did NOT happen ten years ago.  You weren’t here.  The timeframe was not similar.  The expenditure was vetted thorugh the council committe eprocess, which was open.  watched one of those hearings on Ch. 16.  In the end, the judges did a good job, though.  If the trial judge had ruled properly, we might not have had those maps, though.

    In 2011, there were NO public hearings in advance of the maps being drawn, and not even the full Republican caucus new of the contract until it was signed and the hack consultant began his “work.”  The public hearings that were conducted were scheduled during a difficult holiday timeframe; people’s calendars were full before these “hearings” were conducted.

    Irvington now is chopped into two or three different council districts.  A Republican hack got paid a quarter-mil to draw the maps in secret.  The Mayor signs the ordinance on the morning of his first official day of Term Two, with no avdance notice to the loyal oppositon.

    Not exactly a signal of good faith. He’s certainly entitled to do what he did.  

    We’ll see what happens.  It’s not a good omen.  It does prove this mayor who “isn’t a career politician” has adapted to hack partisanship pretty damned quickly.

  • Rico

    Then I would think he’d be YOUR hero.

  • Scooter

    TA, quit stomping your widdle feet….

  • Abdul

    Irvington is in two districts.  With 90% in one district and 10% in the other. The change was made after the citizens expressed their concerns.   Had you paid attention and followed the hearings you would know that.  Luckily, I attended every one.

  • Abdul

    And he didn’t sign it on his first official day.  He signed it at the end of the morning of his first term, that is a very distinct legal definition which will come up if this goes to court.

  • Think Again

    BYstate statute and ordinance Today is the first official day of his second term.  You dated your post 1-1-12, and used the timeframe “this morning.”  So…..however you try to slice that, it’s the first day of his second term. 

    I had conflicts on every single “hearing” date.  Business opportunities and family obligations, long-before-scheduled.  I sent written complaints to my district council person and the at-large council persons.  So keep your smarmy-ass “if I had paid attention” remarks to yourself–I paid attention as closely or moreso than 99.9% of most citizens.  And I know enough about the maps to know where the hell Irvington is.  I’ve been through council redistricting before.  More than you have. So I made the unspeakable error in your world, of writing my council members instead of attending any of these “hearings,” which were a sham anyway? Seriously, Abdul?

    Letters are still permissable in Abdul World, right?

    Irvington is 40% in one district, 50% or more in another.  I don’t know what maps you’re looking at, but that’s the fact.  If the “hearings” altered those lines it’s still the first time in Unigov history that a neighborhood that cohesive has been split like that, with no advance public notice or input.

    He is probably entitled to do exactly what he did.  And you’re entitled to parrot exactly what his office says, even with a smirk on your face like this post.

    But you cannot alter facts.  The contract was signed under cover-of-darkness.  Mr. Vaughn didn’t even tell his own majority caucus before-hand.  Unlike ten years ago.  Period.  

    You usually do a great job on stories where you have to dig and uncover things.  But you have an annoying habit of parroting the 25th floor on sticky issues–here’s a hint.  They have paid spokespersons.  They don’t need non-Indy voters helping them.

    Except of course that council district consultant, who also allegedly doesn’t vote here. 

    Analysis is your (very) strong suit.  Cheerleading isn’t.  

      

  • http://twitter.com/IndyStudent Matthew Stone

    Hunter introduced an amendment to re-do Irvington so 90% of it is in one district. It passed. 

    Of course, it took 1 council person to do that and he was already paid a salary. The GOP hack didn’t even realize he had cut Irvington into 3 districts on his original maps and he clearly didn’t consult with a single other person when doing those maps. It also doesn’t change the horrible boundaries that didn’t exist before, or that other communities of interest are now divided up.

    It was a shill, partisan process. Good for Abdul for being able to go. If my full time job was as a paid media journalist of some sort, I’d be able to make time for all the hearings as well. But for normal citizens, these meetings were horrible and offered little to no flexibility. 

    Say what you will about the Indiana legislature, but their Congressional maps and state house/senate maps are nice and clean. These council districts are a mess.

  • Abdul

    The Mayor’s first term expired at noon. The maps were signed about 10 a.m.

  • Pogden297

    They Mayor didn’t divide the districts.  The council did.  And the council did that in 2011, not 2012.  By law the council has to redraw the districts in 2012. 

  • Abdul

    Where does the statute say that?

  • Turk182

    From an outsiders view, the old districts looked like a complicated crossword puzzle only experienced puzzle gamers could figure out.
    In other words looks like the old maps cut through all types of neighborhoods, not just Irvington.
    Now Irvington has two representatives instead of 1!
    Why not look at the positive’s with the new maps?
    Again, I don’t have a dog in this fight, just an outsiders perspective.

  • Think Again

    That’s not what the statute says about term expiration.

  • Think Again

    I just revisited the maps…Irvington is not 90% contained.  As for homes, anyway…it might be for registered voters.  The maps don’t tell us who’s registered in what house.

    And of course, empty hosues have no registrants, despite what some folks here think.  And there are a LOT of empty houses on the eastside.That’s information I’m sure the partisan hack mapmaker had.

    Congressional maps are pretty good.  Legislative, not so much.

    But even those are far better than these council maps.   

  • Think Again

    I just looked at statute and I stand corrected.

    Which makes this move even more partisan.  

    Yep.  He’s sure not a politician.  A politician wouldn’t have waited til the last minute, and probably would speak off-the-cuff or with notes at his swearing-in….

    Oops. 

    Teleprompter Alert!

  • Think Again

    And I believe they will.

  • Think Again

    You want an homogenous neighborhood or area, to have the same representative for all kinds of good reasons.  

    First it’s been done that way since Unigov started. 

    Secondly, it helps keep lines of communicaiton clear with neighborhood groups.  All those folks are volunteers, with limited time to interact with their govt.

    We’ve already got the drek at-large seats, so if you want to weigh-in, you’ve got to contact 5 council members.  Yours and the four at-larges.

    If you’re doing trench political work, or zoning work, it’s dififcult if you have to split your time with more than one district council member. My experience is that almost all district council members, will listen politely to neighborhood concerns, even fi they end up on the other side of an issue.  Sometimes those interactions take weeks.  Double that timeframe if you’ve got two district council members.

    And if the Council adds more education issues to its plate, which looks likely, the past zoning issues will look like a lark.

    We seem to do anything we can to limit constituents’ access to the voting process and the participatory process.  Why?  Why don’t we make it as easy as possible?

  • pascal

    All this talk of maps and I am wondering where one might get a copy of one.  

  • Pogden297

    IC 36-3-4-3
    City-county legislative
    body; division of county into districts; composition of body; election; petition
    for division of county
    Sec. 3. (a) The city-county legislative body
    shall, by ordinance, divide the whole county into twenty-five (25) districts
    that:(1) are compact, subject only to natural boundary lines (such as
    railroads, major highways, rivers, creeks, parks, and major industrial
    complexes);(2) contain, as nearly as is possible, equal population;
    and(3) do not cross precinct boundary lines.This division shall be
    made during the second year after a year in which a federal decennial census is
    conducted and may also be made at any other time, subject to IC
    3-11-1.5-32.

  • Pogden297

    IC 36-3-4-3
    City-county legislative
    body; division of county into districts; composition of body; election; petition
    for division of county
    Sec. 3. (a) The city-county legislative body
    shall, by ordinance, divide the whole county into twenty-five (25) districts
    that:(1) are compact, subject only to natural boundary lines (such as
    railroads, major highways, rivers, creeks, parks, and major industrial
    complexes);(2) contain, as nearly as is possible, equal population;
    and(3) do not cross precinct boundary lines.This division shall be
    made during the second year after a year in which a federal decennial census is
    conducted and may also be made at any other time, subject to IC
    3-11-1.5-32.

  • Pogden297

    The division is done by the city-county council under the statute, not by the executive.  The council did it in 2011.  It has to be done again in 2012.

  • Pogden297

    The division is done by the city-county council under the statute, not by the executive.  The council did it in 2011.  It has to be done again in 2012.

  • Pogden297

    What are you talking about?  The old districts were about as compact as I’ve ever seen in a redistricting.

  • Pogden297

    What are you talking about?  The old districts were about as compact as I’ve ever seen in a redistricting.

  • Zach

    Exactly. The satute says in 2012 the legislative body, SHALL divide the county IN 2012. Not that the executive shall sign. Nice try but huge difference. Indiana Code IC 36-3-4-3: …Sec. 3. (a) The city-county legislative body shall, by ordinance, divide the whole county into twenty-five (25) districts…THIS DIVISION SHALL BE MADE during the SECOND YEAR AFTER a year in which a federal decennial census is conducted…”

  • Think Again

    You can’t really expect a non-voting resident to keep track of those pesky Indiana stautes.

    I believe that’s Check and Checkmate, Abdul.

    Still, the Teleprompter Mayor can veto anythikng the new council does.

    Back to Square One.  Damn.

  • Think Again

    Indeed.  I agree.  And done by judges with a cheap $40 computer program, in about four hours.

  • Think Again

    Well, I went to the Mayor’s website on Indygov, and he hasn’t posted anything since Nov. 30.

    He’s been busy reviewing the “consultant’s” maps.

    One quarter of a million.  Gone.  

  • Rico

    The ‘teleprompter mayor’??  Again, is that a compliment from you?  Judging by the so-called leaders you hold in high regard, one could conclude that reading virtually everything from a teleprompter is a goal to which all politicians should strive.  Consistency, TA.  Look it up!

  • Turk182

    Abdul posted the old and new maps last November, maybe he would mind re-posting them, that’s where I saw them.

  • Abdul

    The maps are in Slideshare.  It’s on the right side of your screen.

  • disruptive element

    “Letters are still permissable in Abdul World, right?” from TA.
    Unfortunately TA is still permissable in Abdul World. TA, the one who has usurped this blog ruling it like it was his own.

  • Turk182
  • Turk182

    Try this site, it’s WIBC and it has both maps on it.

    http://www.wibc.com/news/story.aspx?ID=1628831

  • Indyernie

     ”I stand corrected.”

    It’s not the first time.

  • Think Again

    I was off a few hours.  CLerk Jena Scott and Sheriff FIshburn were your enduring predictions…and youw ere corrected by voters.

    Poof.  Be gone.

  • Think Again

    I did.  Nothing for which you stand is there.  Thankfuly.

    The Mayor professes NOT to be a politician.  He used a telepropmpter yesterday.  

    Game set match on the “politician” thing. That’s neither good nor bad–it just is.

  • Think Again

    I got copies mailed to me  by the Council office. I’m sure they’d do the same for anyone else. You’d have played hell getting them prior to the public vote, however, because the council office only got them two days before.  Such is the nature of clandestine efforts.

    Ten years ago, the Council held committee hearings before a single district was drawn, and good suggestionls were offered by all sides.

    I just don’t know how to post the maps here or I would.  I got one map for each district, too…a lot of posts.

  • Think Again

    You’re welcome.

    Troll on.

  • Indyernie

    Yea, and Ballard  will never win a 2nd term.
     

  • Indyernie

    He’s just gearing up for his third term.

  • Think Again

    Thart’s the first smart thing yoj’ve said her e in a long time.

    He COULD be doing just that.

    First, he has to make it thorugh the next 4 yrs without a lapdog council.

    And without a council prez who will  enter into such a ridiculous contractunder cover of darkness.

    Those days are gone.

    We all might benefit. I sure hope so.

  • pascal

    Thanks!