Redistricting Veto by Mayor; the Right Thing

Without getting into the Boston neighborhood redistricting minutiae, suffice to say the Boston City Council erred when it went about changing voter lines and city council districts in what appears to have been a highly questionable manner.

It was so questionable that Mayor Thomas Menino vetoed the measure.

As a result, the redistricting bill is once again before the city council and the city council will once again attempt to present a bill that is both fair and measured and one which Mayor Menino will ultimately sign.

City redistricting is an important function that assures the integrity of the democracy we like to believe we have in Boston – the so-called Athens of North America.

When a redistricting bill excludes people of race and color from one district in order to satisfy the electoral needs of any candidate, something must be done to correct that injustice.

The Gerrymander of a Boston city district for whatever reason is unacceptable at this point in the city’s history. It should have been unacceptable in the past. But it wasn’t.

No matter how slight the difference in the lines recently re-drawn, the mayor believed the wrong lines had been drawn.

He has directed that this redistricting be done the right way.

So now it is back to the drawing board.

The mayor was right to veto the redistricting requested. The original bill vetoed by the mayor would have been the subject of numerous law suits had the mayor signed it.

We urge the city council to draw redistricting lines that are fair to residents, homeowners and voters first and fair for politicians representing them second.

If the process is entirely fair, everyone’s best interest will be better served and the mayor will sign the bill.

The redistricting lines must be fair. They must be legal and above all, they must be right.

1 comment for “Redistricting Veto by Mayor; the Right Thing

Leave a Reply to theszak Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.