Recently, Prince George’s County Council voted to establish a map that redrew the neighborhood boundaries. These new boundaries negatively impact future candidates’ chances for running for council seats. In early September, Bradley Heard, citizen activist and attorney, along with DW wrote about the proposed maps and their problems. The first map, which was replaced by the second (David-Franklin), had its issues too. If the first map were passed, DW and Heard wrote that it would impact the poorer communities in Prince George’s County, which are inside the beltway.

Note: Some Prince George’s County residents, especially those affected by the new boundaries in the David-Franklin map and council members, rejected this map. I sent DW some questions via email about redistricting and the importance of community-centered ideas around community maps. Here is how she responded.

Delonte Harrod: How often are maps redrawn in Prince George's County?

DW: The maps are redrawn once a decade, after each Decennial Census. They can't be redrawn more frequently without changing the county charter.

DH: Is there a way in which community members can get involved early in the process of map-making? If so, how?

DW: Sort of. The redistricting commission -- https://pgccouncil.us/326/Redistricting-Commission -- had a bunch of public meetings and took public input into designing their plans. But then the county council completely ignored their plan and came up with this one instead.

DH: How do you think this map impacts potential candidates' ability to run for council seats? Who benefits? Who doesn't?

DW: Candidates can only run for the district seat in the district. The map seems to be designed to move three candidates to different districts.

• Eric Olson, a former District 3 council member, has been campaigning for the District 3 seat. The new map moves his neighborhood of Calvert Hills to the southern tip of the "finger" of District 1, which means he couldn't run for that seat, but would have to run against his political ally, the District 1 incumbent, Tom Dernoga. I suppose that Eve Shuman, who's running for the District 3 seat, and anyone else who's running for the seat, would benefit. There's also a history of bad blood between Olson and Franklin and Davis, so it seems plausible that they want to keep him off the council, which this likely changes.

• Progressive activist Krystal Oriadha, who lost to the District 7 incumbent, Rodney Streeter, by 41 votes in 2018, will not be able to challenge him in the District 7 primary in 2022, so he benefits. Her home has moved to District 5, and she supports the incumbent there, Jolene Ivey, and says she won't run against her.

• Tamara Davis-Brown, who lost to the District 9 incumbent, Sydney Harrison, by 61 points in 2018, will not be able to challenge him in the District 9 primary in 2022, so he benefits. Her home has moved to District 8.

DH: Now that the Davis-Franklin map has passed, is there a way in which this ruling can be overturned?

DW: The only way the redistricting map could be changed at this point is if the courts intervened in some way. I think there have been suggestions there might be a lawsuit, but it's not at all clear what the grounds would be or how it would succeed.

DH: What is this map’s connection to the current plans to redevelop the county?

DW: The main connection is that the map changes who can run for the council in 2022, and the council controls zoning and redevelopment to a significant degree.

DH: What neighborhoods or lands are impacted by this map?

DW: Quite a lot of places are changed between districts. In particular:

• Vansville, a pre-Civil War Black community near Beltsville, is moved from District 1 to District 4.

• Edmonston is moved from District 5 to District 2.

• Much of southern College Park is moved from District 3 to District 1.

• The Seat Pleasant area is moved from District 7 to District 5.

• The area around FedEx Field is moved from District 5 to District 6.

• Camp Springs and Andrews Air Force Base are moved from District 8 to District 9.

• Friendly is moved from District 9 to District 8.

DH: Does the county executive have the power to overturn this map? If not, why?

DW: The county executive doesn't have any role in the redistricting process, nor does she have the power to veto council resolutions. The process is laid out in the county charter.

DH: It seems that College Park plays a central role in this map, which is also a place where a lot of development is happening. Why do you think this is?

DW: I think that the redevelopment in College Park isn't actually directly connected to the changes in College Park in the map. The changes in College Park seem mostly motivated by Davis and Franklin wanting to keep Eric Olson from running for the District 3 seat, and they rearranged the district to make him unable to. I don't know if they have plans to get someone they're friends with to run for the District 3 seat, though?

DH: In matters of local policy and law, what do you think needs to change to have a more community-centered-driven map?

DW: The main way to establish a more community-based map in the future would be to amend the charter so that the county council no longer has the ability to throw out the redistricting commission's map and draw their own, as they did this time.

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