Detroit voting districts

Home Opinion Columnists Blogs Editorials. Facebook Twitter Email. Opinion: Redrawn voting maps must preserve Detroit's Black districts. Congressional districts have to be more precise — with a cap of , people with a federal deviation range of plus or minus 0.

Under the three state Senate maps moved forward Monday, officials have estimated there would be 19 Democratic seats and 19 Republican seats in one plan, the "Elm" proposal, and a split favoring Democrats in the other two, Cherry and Spruce.

Republicans currently hold a majority. Under the proposed state House maps, the Peach plan would produce an expected split, the Oak a division favoring Democrats and the Pine proposal a outcome favoring Republicans. The GOP now holds a edge. Democrats typically receive the majority of votes for all of the districts combined statewide, but Republicans have managed to retain their state House and state Senate majorities.

All of the proposed congressional district maps — Apple, Cedar, Maple and Juniper — would produce a slight Democratic majority, according to estimates produced by the commission's consultants.

There is currently a split, but Michigan is losing a district because of population growth in other states. Those maps will advance to the public hearing period, along with any other individual commissioner submissions, for a series of five hearings.

The duration of that public hearing phase — initially scheduled to include nine public hearing dates — has been among the decisions critiqued by groups who argued the public should be afforded more time to consider the maps. About Mary Waters: I am a dedicated public servant with a history of community advocacy. In my personal life, I work as an instructor for the Wayne County Community College District and am a breast cancer survivor.

I am seeking an elected position because I see a profound lack in the representation of the will of the people. Elected officials should strive to be the mouthpiece of the people. I believe that listening with care, concern and compassion is the first step to identifying and improving Detroit. Not only that, but I believe that affordable housing, water shut-offs, and home repairs in Detroit are contentious issues.

I believe that Detroit can come up with a plan that will protect citizens from the issues that plague them such as water shut-offs, while still supplying the city with the necessary funds to maintain the aging infrastructure. I want to be a part of the conversation that extends beyond temporary aid, and that branches into permanent solutions. The single most pressing issue for the entire city is housing.

Issues with housing in the city run rampant. There is not enough livable housing, renovation costs are astronomical, property taxes are a significant burden, and homeowners are being crushed under the weight of repairs they cannot afford. If elected, I would focus on working with lenders to fund forgivable loans for home repairs, protecting residents from property tax foreclosure and bringing more actual affordable housing units to the city.

There are some citizens who live in deplorable conditions in a home they own, simply because financing for repairs is out of reach. There are already a few banking entities that work with Detroit homeowners, but I would attempt to expand the partnerships and increase the types of financing available for home repairs.

I would also seek grant funding and federal programming assistance to ensure success. To bring more affordable housing units to the city, my office would need to hold certain corporate entities to their promises of building such units, as well as support smaller development companies who solely focus on affordable, sustainable housing. I disagreed with the current Detroit City Council when it approved the use of a facial recognition technology that has been shown to misidentify black and brown people.

In a city where a great majority of the population is composed of people of color, it is unacceptable to use a technology that is inaccurate and can lead to the worst imaginable consequences.

The use of this technology without proper screening for bias and misidentification is just asking for another way to violate the civil rights of black and brown people. About Krystal Larsosa: I am a child and youth development professional having worked in the juvenile justice system, the church, and the public school system facilitating safe play, interactive learning as well as art and community activities for children and youth.

As a result, my husband and our family are held in high regard for all we contribute to the neighborhoods. Our three brilliant Black daughters are A students and at ages 14, 12, and 5 are known nationally as the Hershekissis by over k followers on their social media platform dedicated to elevating Black girls. A National media contract secured us financially. I am running because God has been good to our family and I want to lend my perspective and commitment to spreading our fortune to District 1 and Detroit families.

My plan is to advance an equity-informed, neighborhoods-driven agenda for promoting clean, safe and prosperous neighborhoods, elevate the voices of those least heard and to engage people normally ignored and oppressed by the political process and create new inspiration for Black and Brown people, especially youth, to lead through lived experience.

The most important issue facing Detroit is on the heels of National protests and a global pandemic exposing both the lasting injustices impacting the Black community as well as citizens ability to pivot for meeting human needs. Detroit has a window of opportunity to become a national model for equity.

The country at least for now has an appetite for cities placing a high value on Black and Brown lives. Detroit should be a place that we can be proud of.

I will address this issue as a councilwoman by budgeting through common sense. Prioritizing great city services while also assisting Detroiters in building generational wealth through homeownership and renovation programs, investment into locally owned businesses and start-ups, and championing equitable distribution of block grants for home repair.

Detroit will be home again. There are a number of items which I disagreed with City Council. What comes to mind most immediately are our slanted membership and lease with GLWA , the lease of Belle Isle what year was that? I also believe generally that when it comes to extending jobs and economic opportunity to Detroiters, we need to go big.

This would have been my goal through the most recent recreational marijuana ordinance. Detroiters need to be the primary beneficiaries of programs like these. That is the definition of equity. I continued that job even after graduating from Wayne State University. I have been blessed to have experienced continued employment since my time at the grocer. I have also held positions initially as a line worker and then as a quality assurance representative via promotion at a national trucking company.

I would say that my career in public service began to take shape during my time at WXYZ where I worked my way up from a part-time intern to a full-time position as an assignment editor. I earned an Emmy award in that role but what was most rewarding was learning more about people in general. I also gained knowledge of the extreme levels of need that is often not discussed even in news reports. I believe that I have served the residents of Detroit with integrity throughout my tenure and have always taken care to evaluate every element of any proposal presented to me by residents, the executive branch of our local government as well as the private and non-profit communities that approach the City with plans.

I understand that as a public servant and decision-maker, every resident will not always agree with each vote I cast on their behalf. But I make sure to research the matter and more often than not, run the proposals by District 1 D1 residents to get their take on it in advance of casting my vote.

Ensuring that more Detroiters are lifted out of poverty and barriers removed that prevent certain residents from achieving beyond their current financial condition will remain a priority. This really entails much more than making sure that every Detroiter has a job; these jobs or careers must be in fields that allow for financial and professional growth. Addressing the issue of poverty means also focusing on the psychological concerns, transportation issues, food and utility insecurity that so many Detroiters experience every day.

I will continue to support funding of programs that provide job training and placement for employment that provides livable wages and valuable skills.

I also working with the business and philanthropic communities to help the city better fund these programs. While I believed that many elements of Proposal N were meritorious, overall, I did not believe that the proposal that was eventually sent to voters in provided enough clarity on how the funds would be used once obtained and nor a decisive plan on how the properties that are cleared or rehabbed would be addressed afterward. That was a huge concern of residents in District 1 and it led me to vote in opposition of placing the item on the ballot.

I also opposed the previous effort to place Proposal N on the ballot a year earlier because the program at that time focused too heavily on demolition and again had no solid policy that outlined proper maintenance nor disposition post demolition. Candidate did not respond to survey request. View campaign website. About M. Adam Hollier, D-Detroit, and local advocates organized a rally before the hearing to push commissioners to reconsider their approach to southeast Michigan.

The commission's Wednesday hearing at the TCF Center was first of a series it will host about the 22 draft maps it has proposed for state House, state Senate and Congressional districts. Ten of the maps were developed collaboratively during meetings and 12 were drawn by individual commissioners.

They will approve maps by Nov. Commissioners said this month data about voter turnout may affect their ultimate decisions about district lines. Some commissioners defended the current set of maps, which they said follow advice from their voting rights and partisan fairness experts.

Brittni Kellom, a Democratic redistricting commissioner from Detroit, acknowledged the passionate arguments.