Chicago aldermen make little progress toward compromise on ward map

Without a compromise map nailed down, Chicago aldermen have been sitting through a sparsely attended series of public input hearings. But the once-a-decade process appears stalled.

Ward remapping
Chicago aldermen have failed to compromise on a ward map, but will be holding a series of additional meetings this month. Katherine Nagasawa, Mary Hall / WBEZ
Ward remapping
Chicago aldermen have failed to compromise on a ward map, but will be holding a series of additional meetings this month. Katherine Nagasawa, Mary Hall / WBEZ

Chicago aldermen make little progress toward compromise on ward map

Without a compromise map nailed down, Chicago aldermen have been sitting through a sparsely attended series of public input hearings. But the once-a-decade process appears stalled.

WBEZ brings you fact-based news and information. Sign up for our newsletters to stay up to date on the stories that matter.

Chicago aldermen remain at odds over their once-in-a-decade redistricting process, despite holding a series of additional meetings this month.

Aldermen are in a standoff over two competing maps – one drawn by the City Council Rules Committee and one drawn primarily by members of the Latino Caucus. They missed a Dec. 1 deadline to approve a new ward map because neither option could get 41 votes. If no compromise can be reached, the dueling maps decision will go to a referendum in June.

On Friday, during the last of the additional public hearings scheduled by Rules Committee Chair Ald. Michelle Harris (8th Ward), an expert and the Rules Committee’s lawyer gave a presentation showing how the map drawn by the committee complies with the Voting Rights Act, a constant critique from the Latino Caucus.

Harris had originally scheduled the additional public hearings throughout the month of January not only to give aldermen more time to forge a compromise, but also to gather more feedback from the public.

There were 21 additional people who spoke during the January hearings. One was a former alderman. Last fall, more than 50 people spoke at hearings and nearly 200 written comments were submitted. But some aldermen and activists are critical of the Rules Committee’s public-input efforts, saying they won’t change how the maps are ultimately drawn.

“It does seem a bit like a dog and pony show to create the illusion of something happening around the map when in reality it’s business as usual behind closed doors,” said Ald. Carlos Ramirez Rosa, 35th Ward, who supports the map drawn by the Latino Caucus known as the Chicago Coalition Map.

“I wish I could tell you what the purpose of those hearings was,” said Graciela Covarrubias, an Avondale resident who sat on a commission organized by CHANGE Illinois to draw an independent map.

The so-called People’s Map was created at the end of last summer after the group held nearly 50 public meetings and public map-drawing sessions.

“The folks that were at our public hearing were able to say, ‘Well, no no no, you should move this line here.’ Or: ‘We all agree that this is a hard and fast boundary line of our community,’” Covarrubias said.

Covarrubias said that’s not how it works in the City Council.

“They’re hosting these hearings, which is great, and it’s essential to gather more testimony,” Covarrubias said. “But what they’re not doing is relinquishing the politics behind why they’re drawing the lines that they’re drawing.”

The city does have a website where people can draw their own maps – but Harris has also said repeatedly in the hearings that the place to actually draw the map is behind closed doors.

“What you need to do is get in the space with your neighbors and have them to unlock their boundaries,” she said to Ald. Daniel La Spata, 1st Ward, who supports the map drawn by the Latino Caucus known as the Chicago Coalition Map.

The fact that all aldermen are invited to the so-called “map room” is a big step toward making the redistricting process in City Hall more open, according to Ald. Roberto Maldonado, 26th Ward. This is the third time he’s been through a remap.

“Ten years ago, we were not treated good at all, the Latino caucus,” Maldonado said, adding that the map was “imposed” on them and they “got nothing.”

But getting in the room doesn’t mean getting a true say, said Ald. Susan Sadlowski Garza, 10th Ward.

“The three times that I’ve been in there with my colleagues I’m told, ‘You can’t move this way. You can’t do that. You can’t do this,’” Garza said at a hearing earlier this month.

According to Harris, there hasn’t been any new progress in the map room in January, but she remains hopeful.

So does Mayor Lori Lightfoot, who has largely stayed out of the process.

“I think it would be a tremendous lost opportunity if the council couldn’t come together and reach some kind of compromise,” Lightfoot said Thursday.

The Rules Committee meeting begins at 10 a.m. and can be livestreamed at chicityclerk.com

Becky Vevea covers city hall for WBEZ. Follow @beckyvevea.