Detroit’s continued population loss means it will need to go through a redistricting process early next year.
In 2012, Detroiters began electing most city council members by district. The city currently has seven council districts.
But the city has continued to lose population since then, though exact numbers are disputed. And since that loss hasn’t been equal across the city, the current district maps have become unbalanced.
“And for that reason, the city is legally required to redraw the districts to bring them closer in population to one another,” Adam Saxby, an attorney with Detroit’s law department, told council members last month.
Marcel Todd, director of Detroit’s City Planning Commission, added that redistricting is an “unavoidable issue.” “With a significant change of population, loss or increase, redistricting will be necessary in order to ensure that there is fair, proper representation across those districts,” Todd said.
Todd said city planners have come up with five different redistricting scenarios for Council members to consider. They’re urging the Council to narrow down those options by mid-January. And they say the redistricting process should be finalized by the end of January, so candidates and city officials have time to prepare for 2024 elections.
