What's happening with the city council by district change?

Any news? I haven't heard anything in a long time.

I think there is an argument between council and the city clerk's office, on who gets to determine where the districts are.. I don't know if the case is before a judge or what..

I fear the worst; that they will dilute it to having some members at-large and some members from districts -- districts so large that they will still be unaccountable, or all intersect at Palmer Woods...

For the time being, the Council, Clerk, Election Commission and Mayor don't ahve the final word on whether there will be Council By Districts. The Charter Commission will send a proposed Charter to the people for a vote. If they put in some form of Council By District voting and the voters approve it, that's that. Per state law, the Council would then have to vote on where the districts would be. Now who gets to draw the districts and where those districts are drawn will end up being a big to do.

Doesn't the 2009 referendum overwhelmingly passed supercede everything else, anyway? You know, the one that calls for 7 districts and 2 at-large seats to be implemented before the 2013 elections?

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Originally Posted by NorthEnder

Doesn't the 2009 referendum overwhelmingly passed supercede everything else, anyway? You know, the one that calls for 7 districts and 2 at-large seats to be implemented before the 2013 elections?

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No, it was just advisory. It didn't have the weight of the law behind it.

Council by district really needs to happen. It would open up opportunities for a diversity of opinions on city council. While I do not see this as an issue of race, it might allow members of minority groups to be elected.

I dislike wards. It's going to be more corrupt than Chicago's ward system. This is where the a individual will run the community like Jefferson Davis "Boss" Hogg from Dukes of Hazzard.

Virgil Smith is supposed to decide just who can draw those districts. From the Freep: A Wayne County Circuit Court judge may soon give the final word about whether the City of Detroit's new voting districts will be drawn by the City Council, according to state law, or by the city Election Commission. The City Council filed a lawsuit Friday against the Election Commission as a matter of procedure, asking the court to issue a declaration that the council will draw the district boundaries for the 2013 council elections, according to the state Home Rule Cities Act. The language on the ballot petition to create a council by district said the districts must be drawn by the city's Election Commission. Judge Virgil Smith is scheduled to hear the motion April 8.

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Originally Posted by JGrant

Virgil Smith is supposed to decide just who can draw those districts. From the Freep: A Wayne County Circuit Court judge may soon give the final word about whether the City of Detroit's new voting districts will be drawn by the City Council, according to state law, or by the city Election Commission. The City Council filed a lawsuit Friday against the Election Commission as a matter of procedure, asking the court to issue a declaration that the council will draw the district boundaries for the 2013 council elections, according to the state Home Rule Cities Act. The language on the ballot petition to create a council by district said the districts must be drawn by the city's Election Commission. Judge Virgil Smith is scheduled to hear the motion April 8.

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Thanks for the info. So what are the guidelines for drawing districts? Approximately equal numbers of people in each?