It's all over. Well, almost: Now it's up to Denver City Council members to vote on new council district boundaries during their March 29 meeting. The leading contender is Map D, which lawmakers approved 11-2 during their regular meeting this week.
Monday's council meeting will include a required public hearing that will almost certainly feature concerns many residents brought up during the redistricting process over splitting up neighborhoods and ensuring so-called communities of interest -- areas sharing cultural, historical or economic interests -- are kept intact.
Councilmembers Candi CdeBaca and Jamie Torres voted against Map D during this week's meeting. CdeBaca instead advocated for a map she drew, which she filed directly to council in order to have it on the record, knowing it was going to fail (it was voted down 1-12). She said her map did not gerrymander the city's districts and attempted to keep a majority-minority in the district she represents, which includes Five Points, Globeville and downtown.
Slide to compare the two maps:
Councilmember Amanda Sandoval, who led redistricting, pointed out repeatedly that the process faced a tight time window due to the delayed release of U.S. Census data and voters deciding to move municipal elections up a month.
If you have something to say about the new map, sign up to speak during the public hearing, not the general public comment session that starts at 5 p.m. Since it's a required public hearing, everyone who signs up will get up to three minutes to speak to lawmakers.
