Unhappy with the ward redistricting boundaries draw up the YSU Center for Urban Studies, Youngstown City Council voted today to seek outside bid proposals for additional ward boundary maps.
To seek and fund another study
Voting YES - Pincard, Gillam, Tarpley, Swierz, Rogers
Voting NO - Ray
Absent - Drennen
One councilwoman feels it is perfectly OK to include prison inmates in a ward's population figures for redistricting.
Until you throw the bums out, there will be more of this stupidity.
At one point Tuesday, Ray and Councilwoman Annie Gillam, D-1st, got into an argument about the prison-counting issue.
Gillam, whose district currently includes the private prison, said she's received two letters from prisoners in her nearly six years on council, and that she wants inmates to be counted in any redistricting proposal.
Gillam also objects to the YSU maps as they take away her representation on the city's East Side, including her residence.
"My [ward] is huge," she said. "Some say area doesn't matter, but it does matter."
"It doesn't matter," Ray said. "We represent people, not trees."
This legislation had its third reading today. The proposal passed.
Against - Ray, Drennen
For - Gillam, Tarpley, Pinkard, Swierz
Absent - Rogers