JACKSON, Mississippi (WLBT) – The majority of the Jackson City Council wanted to repeal the regulations and adopt new district divisions at a special meeting Tuesday.
However, overriding the rules would require a unanimous vote from the council, and 5th District Councilman Vernon Hartley was not convinced.
“The public has been constantly asking for more input and a delay in this process. And I see us suspending the rules to make it even faster instead,” he said. “This is just nonsensical and does not reflect the will of the people at the last public hearing.”
The vote comes just days after Hartley criticized the new district boundaries at a hearing to finalize the plan, including because his district did not extend into downtown Jackson.
(READ: “We worked well together”: Council decides on new district structures at meeting on Thursday)
On Tuesday, he expressed similar concerns.
“There is a line that we cannot cross, that we must not cross – a political line,” he said. “For whatever reason, we will not be able to get there.”
Hartley said his district will instead “inherit” some of the same problems it already has.
“We have homicide cases. We have adult properties. We have many of these issues that lead to weaker neighborhoods,” he said. “We have a district that has suffered in many ways, and we rely heavily on city services to strengthen our neighborhoods.”
The boundaries of the electoral districts are redrawn every ten years based on figures from the US Census Bureau.
Federal law requires the boundaries to be changed to reflect the “one person, one vote” principle, meaning that each boundary must contain approximately equal numbers of residents.
According to 2020 census data, Jackson’s population fell from 174,514 people in 2010 to 153,701, with four of the city’s seven wards reporting losses. The data shows that wards three and five saw the largest declines.
To ensure the “one person, one vote” principle, these areas had to take over areas from districts that were experiencing growth, such as Districts Four, Seven and One.
Much of Tuesday’s 15-minute meeting was spent discussing whether a unanimous vote was required to suspend the rules.
Ordinances are typically introduced at one meeting and moved to the next meeting for a vote. The council can suspend the rules to vote on an ordinance at a meeting, but the vote to do so must be unanimous, explained City Attorney Drew Martin.
“Regulations have been introduced and the council has voted on the date of implementation,” he said. “The council has done this a few times in the last few months.”
For her part, Council Vice Chair Angelique Lee thanked First District Councilman Ashby Foote for keeping much of her district intact.
“Since we only lost one percent of our population, we didn’t have to make very many changes, but we thank Mr. Foote, who had to give up part of his district,” she said. “So we’re going to cross I-55 and gain part of District One, but that will be our only change.”
Under the council’s preferred plan, District Two will include a parcel of land between I-55 and Ridgewood Road north of Reddoch Road.
The boundaries of District Five, meanwhile, will be extended east to North Gallatin Street, adding portions of West Amite Street, West Pearl Street and Canal Street that were previously part of District Three.
Sixth District Councilman Aaron Banks said the new lines need to be adopted as soon as possible so officials can review the changes on the ground.
“Whatever little differences there are, especially when it comes to wealth, when it comes to things you can do to make someone’s district look better and I can say, ‘I have that in my district,’ at the end of the day we’re talking about people,” he said. “Rich people, white people, black people, yellow people, Republicans, Democrats – they’re people.”
City Attorney Drew Martin said the motion to suspend the regulations failed, but the city ordinance requires a six-day notice period before the ordinance can be reinstated.
Council President Virgi Lindsay said this means the redistricting process can be postponed until the next council meeting, scheduled for August 13.
“It’s not that big a delay,” she said. “We just need to put it on the agenda.”
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