“We’re not here for a fight. Frankly, we already won the fight…We are prepared to accept a fair map.”
The city is redrawing the district voting lines after Covington, other individuals, the Jacksonville branch of the NAACP, the Northside Coalition of Jacksonville, the ACLU of Florida Northeast Chapter and Florida Rising successfully sued the city for unconstitutionally packing Black voters into Districts 7, 8, 9 and 10. The city has until Tuesday to give a new map to U.S. District Judge Marcia Morales Howard.
The committee moved forward with two maps Tuesday but did not further narrow its choices Wednesday as previously discussed. It will take up three amendments that the map-drawing team will explore before Thursday’s meeting – which is also the last day for council members and the public to present new ideas before the full council votes.
The city promised ample time for public comment throughout the process. As during Tuesday’s meeting, it only offered enough time for each speaker present to have one minute Wednesday. In a difference from Tuesday’s meeting, however, Freeman allowed public comment to occur before committee members discussed the maps.
City legal counsel filed a motion for a stay on Oct. 19, requesting a hold on Howard’s order partially on the basis that the city did not have time to draw a new map in a way that did not “threaten voter confidence.” Howard rejected the stay Tuesday, citing the confidence that Freeman and council member Rory Diamond described about the committee being able to meet her court-ordered deadline.
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