Council Districts to Remain Intact Until December

The new borders for Baltimore's 14 City Council districts approved last week will go into effect in December, not this month, according to an opinion released Tuesday by Baltimore City Solicitor George Nilson.

The new districts, approved by the council last Monday, were set to go into effect April 1, meaning that thousands of city residents would have been represented by new council members right away, according to an earlier opinion from Nilson's office.

But Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake asked for a clarification and Nilson's Tuesday opinion reverses his office's original assessment. Nilson's new opinion states that the new borders should take effect in December, after council members are sworn in following the Nov. 8 general election.

However, voters whose precincts were shifted in the redistricting process will be electing a councilperson in their new districts in both the Sept. 13 primary election and the general election.

Some North Baltimore residents of the Hampden, Remington, Charles Village, Mt. Washington, Waverly and Pen Lucy neighborhoods will be represented in different districts.

The new district map has been unpopular with some council members who represent parts of North Baltimore.

Councilman Carl Stokes, D-District 12, and Councilwoman Belinda Conaway, D-District 7, joined Councilman James Kraft, D-District 1, in voting against approving the redistricting map. 

Councilwoman Mary Pat Clarke, D-District 14, also tried to keep parts of the Waverly and Pen Lucy neighborhoods in her district.