City council approves new maps for council districts
The Wichita City Council voted unanimously to approve new maps for the six council districts, based on population changes from the 2010 Census. The city has to go through a redistricting process with the Census every 10 years.
Some adjustments were made in the districts after District 2 council member Pete Meitzner objected to the removal of some parts of his district. Meitzner met with council members Lavonta Williams, James Clendenin and Michael O'Donnell from the 1st, 3rd and 4th districts to make some adjustments.
Some northeast Wichita residents raised concerns with the council that the changes would hurt minority representation on the council. Williams said she was pleased with the new map, and she welcomes part of College Hill into her 1st district. She said she has always been concerned about the entire city, not just one district.
Mayor Carl Brewer said he has heard from ministers in northeast Wichita about redistricting. He believes the concerns come from media reports last week about discussions on adding or reducing the number of council districts. That was not up for discussion at Tuesday's meeting.
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