The Legislative Redistricting Advisory Commission released its proposed state legislative map Monday evening — and by Wednesday afternoon, members of the public weighed in on how the proposal would affect their home districts.
Much of the testimony at Wednesday’s public hearing revolved around granular details of individual districts. Del. Christian J. Miele (R-Baltimore County) urged commission members to retain a small area near Aberdeen in District 34 rather than moving it to District 35; Baltimore County resident Linda Dorsey-Walker said commission members should draw a single-member delegate district around Owings Mills in District 11; Kevin Burke of Anne Arundel County criticized the way Severna Park is drawn in the proposed map and said the community is “carved up like a Christmas turkey.”
Reginald Benbow, a Baltimore resident who has launched a House campaign in District 43, said he was concerned that adding Towson in Baltimore County to the existing district, which currently includes parts of north-central Baltimore City, would dilute the voice of historically redlined and marginalized communities. He noted that the city lost population over the past decade, but said most of that population loss was in the eastern and western areas of the city.
Click here to read the rest of the article written by Bennett Leckrone over at Maryland Matters
