Former Ward 2 City Councilwoman Susan Mackay confirmed Saturday she again will seek the office in the 2013 municipal elections.
Mackay was elected in a special election to fill the seat vacated with the Jan. 17, 2008 death of her husband, Doug Mackay, but was defeated in her re-election bid in 2009 by current Ward 2 Councilman Joseph Mickens.
Saturday she spoke against efforts by Mickens and District 5 Councilman Kabir Karriem for the city to approve a different redistricting map than one already approved by the Columbus City Council.
Redistricting, whereby legislative or voting districts are redrawn, is mandated by the U.S. Department of Justice under Section Five of The Voting Rights Act of 1965 when the variance in population between the most populous and least populous districts vary by more than 10 percent.
The council Monday will hold a public hearing on the federally mandated redistricting.
“I feel it is important for me to stand up at this time for the residents of Ward 2,” said Susan Mackay. “The City of Columbus hired Chris Watson (of the Oxford-based Bridge and Watson consulting firm) to redraw the ward lines, based on the population of the 2010 census. He has drawn a fair and equitable map for the city, which was voted on and approved by the City Council.
“I have been told a committee of (Lowndes County District 5 Supervisor) Leroy Brooks, Kabir Karriem and Joseph Mickens, along with members of the League of Voters and the Democratic Party are proposing a different map,” she continued. “I was also told that they had a meeting this morning with the black ministers to present new percentages of black/white population in the wards.”
Under the city’s proposal, which Mickens and Karriem voted against, Wards 1 and 2 would remain unchanged, as was suggested by Watson during the preliminary rounds of the redistricting discussion.
But the alternate plan’s biggest changes are in Ward 2, where the number of white residents decreases almost 10 percentage points from 41.8 percent to 33.0 percent and the number of black residents increases almost ten points from 56.2 percent to 65.6 percent.
“The only ward that was drastically affected by the percentages was Ward 2,” Susan Mackay said of the alternate plan. “The map Chris Watson drew up for the city had no changes in Ward 2. The other wards changed, but voter strengths were not changed. Ward 2 is what they call a swing ward, which means anyone may be elected.”
Susan Mackay expects her candidacy will be viewed as a threat to Democratic control of the ward.
“I have said, for three years, I was going to run again to regain the seat I held on the City Council,” she said. “The fact that there will be a viable Republican candidate for Ward 2 seems to be upsetting to our local Democrats.
“This issue affects all citizens of the City of Columbus,” she added. “This new map proposed is being called ‘the community map,’ but not all the community was involved in its designing. Every voter needs to understand the redistricting process and how it will determine every decision made by the City Council.”
“I believe the city and county should work together, but do not believe a county supervisor should be involved in changing the makeup of the wards within the City of Columbus,” she concluded, encouraging “all voters to attend” the redistricting meeting held at 6 p.m. Monday at the Columbus Municipal Complex.
This story contains reporting by Dispatch reporter
Jeff Clark.
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