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‘Blake-O’Malley’ redistricting plan squeaks by council on 5-4 vote
The “Blake-O’Malley” redistricting plan squeaked by with a 5-4 margin Tuesday night, to the outrage of the moderate council faction.
That was because Dave Blake, co-author of the plan, met with three progressive members of the council – Vice Mayor Maudelle Shirek, councilmembers Margaret Breland and Dona Spring – Monday afternoon before the plan came back to council. As a result of those meetings, Blake made changes to the district boundaries he had originally proposed.
Moderates contended that neither they nor the public had seen the new iteration of the plan.
Councilmember Margaret Breland argued that she would vote for the plan she thought was best.
To this, Councilmember Polly Armstrong responded: “Let’s not have any of that self-righteous crud. This is spitting in the face of the City Charter. But they have five votes and they will do what they want to do.”
She continued: “It’s just politics, it’s just politics, it’s just politics.”
The five voting in favor of the plan were: Shirek, Spring, Breland and councilmembers Kriss Worthington and Linda Maio.
See Thursday’s Daily Planet for a detailed look at the new districts.
