Council seeks to keep elections fair in ‘gentrified’ Columbia. Here’s how
Evidence of gentrification and population shifts in and around Columbia’s downtown has made efforts to redraw municipal voting boundaries a little complicated.
Columbia City Council Tuesday gave initial approval to a plan that redraws the city’s voting districts based on 2020 census population figures. For much of the city, the boundaries would change only slightly. For downtown, it’s not as simple.
The city’s district 2, which includes downtown and a portion of North Columbia, grew by more than 4,000 residents, driven largely by white residents moving in. The rest of the city saw some changes as well, but not to the same extent.
“One of the noticeable changes from 2011 to the 2020 census is that the Black voting age percentage in District 2 dramatically declined, apparently due to strong white population growth … which appears to be primarily concentrated downtown,” said Joseph Oppermann, an attorney consulting with the city to develop the redistricting plan.
That growth has potentially put Columbia out of step with federal law meant to prevent diluting minority votes. Oppermann is also conducting a racial polarization study to determine if the new plan adequately fixes the problem. He expects to have the results by the end of the week.
On its face, the plan city council advanced Tuesday, under which 45.7% of the voting population in District 2 would be Black and 45.13% would be white, would restore the balance between white and minority voters in that area. Oppermann did not provide statistics for the current makeup.
Some residents hoped the city would wait for the racial polarization study before acting on the new maps.
“They’ve done a good job,” Elizabeth Marks, a resident of District 2 and vice chair of the Coalition of Downtown Neighborhoods, said. “But it needs tweaking.”
Gentrification has changed the balance of minority neighborhoods outside downtown, she said, adding that ongoing higher-end developments could further ostracize minority and low-income residents.
“These are wonderful old houses, and they’re highly desirable. They’re less expensive than in the downtown core,” she said. “And so our concern is that down the road because of gentrification and because of housing costs, we won’t have an equal playing field for Black and white candidates.”
City officials can’t redistrict based on what the population will be. They have to use 2020 census data as the foundation. But Marks and several other residents are hoping developments that were on the books at the time the census was taken can be factored into the math.
Council members Tuesday were uncertain if that is legally allowed, but said they will have more information by the next vote, scheduled for Dec. 21.
The Columbia NAACP has proposed an alternative map, which can be viewed on the city of Columbia website along with the city’s proposal. NAACP president Lydia Glover did not immediately respond to a request for an interview.
The councilman from District 2, Edward McDowell, said that while there is some disagreement about the best way to draw the boundaries, redistricting will ultimately be good for his community.
“Ten years ago, we had 50% African American voting-age persons in the district … That represented making sure that an African American or whomever else could get a fair shake,” McDowell said.
He believes both the current proposal and the NAACP map would help restore that balance.
While the city gave initial approval to the new maps Tuesday, council members stressed they would continue to accept public feedback and would get answers to the questions that arose during the public hearing.
At-large councilwoman Tameika Devine said it’s important council take its time and understand why residents might be concerned.
“I think there is a growing fear, throughout this country quite honestly, that minority voting rights are being taken away,” Devine said. “I think we have to understand the concern of the community.”
Redrawing the lines doesn’t mean there will always be a non-white person holding a particular seat, but it creates “a reasonable opportunity” for a minority resident to get elected, she said.
The city council is comprised of four single-member districts each with a council member, two at-large council members and a mayor. The makeup is often referred to as “the 4-2-1.” Redistricting would not change that makeup, but would redraw the boundaries for the district representatives.
This story was originally published December 8, 2021 at 1:39 PM.
