College Park City Council members unanimously voted Tuesday to send a letter to the Prince George’s County Council opposing the county’s redistricting plan.
The city’s drafted letter alleges that the current county redistricting plan is an attempt to gerrymander the districts, which “has damaged the public trust in the Council and has damaged the County’s reputation.”
The county council’s proposed redistricting map splits up College Park neighborhoods and has sparked outrage among Prince George’s County leaders and residents.
“I just think that this is something that we need to do,” said District 4 council member Maria Mackie in the meeting. “So I would like us all to work together to support this opposition.”
[Prince George’s council moves forward with new redistricting map, but backlash persists]
Last month, local leaders gathered outside of College Park City Hall to protest the proposed boundaries. County council members voted on a new map on Oct. 14, which city council members say is still not satisfactory.
District 3 council member John Rigg pitched the addition of a paragraph to the letter that mentions the county’s lack of input from residents and local civic associations.
“This is being done to us rather than being done with us. This is being done to us by people whose job it is to represent the county as a whole who are our at-large members,” Rigg said.
Several civic associations, according to College Park Mayor Patrick Wojahn, are planning to voice their opposition to the redistricting map. A public hearing in front of the county council will be held virtually at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 16.
“I think we’re in good company in reflecting our frustration of the lack of engagement with our civic associations about [redistricting],” Wojahn said.
