Maurer criticizes gerrymandering in Cleveland redistricting process
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Council President Blaine Griffin and Councilwoman Rebecca Maurer. Photos: Cleveland City Council
Monday night's Cleveland City Council meeting was among the more pyrotechnic in recent memory, with debate over the new redistricting process.
State of play: Councilwoman Rebecca Maurer and Council President Blaine Griffin went at each other in public remarks, presaging what could be a larger ideological battle about the new ward map.
Catch up quick: Griffin has repeatedly tried to distance the current redistricting process from past years' efforts, in which he says council leadership worked behind closed doors to draw a map prioritizing the interests of favored incumbents.
- This resulted in gerrymandered wards that didn't always follow natural boundaries or preserve historic neighborhoods.
The latest: Monday night, Maurer accused Griffin of doing the same this year — in defiance of both his public stance and the body's unanimous support for Issue 1, which unsuccessfully sought to take mapmaking out of the hands of politicians at the state level.
- On Monday, council members privately viewed a new draft map that have not been made public. Maurer said the existing Ward 12 was split into five pieces, shattering her electoral base.
- She claims her own home in Cleveland's Slavic Village neighborhood was gerrymandered into a new Ward 3 on the west side — an arrangement resembling former Ward 11 councilwoman Dona Brady's.
- Maurer said she explicitly told council leadership that such an outcome would be unacceptable.
What they're saying: "Don't play games with my house, my home and my beloved neighbors," she told Griffin.
- She called on Griffin to release the draft map to give the public a "genuine chance" to provide feedback, and to support a future charter amendment to make the redistricting process independent of council leadership.
The other side: In a rare move, Griffin invited councilman Kerry McCormack to preside in the president's chair so that he could respond to Maurer from the floor of council chambers.
- Griffin called the draft map an "exercise" meant to get feedback on a work in progress. To Maurer, he said all council members were sacrificing valuable pieces of their existing wards.
- "Quite frankly, members of this body encouraged me to get rid of Ward 12 because they don't trust the council member in Ward 12. They don't feel that she's a team player."
- "I stand on the process. I think it was fair. I did not try to target any individual councilperson. But I will say to the council lady: Your wish is my command."
What's next: Earlier this month, the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections said it would need a new map by early January to finalize voting precincts before the May 2025 election.
- Council may have to introduce and pass the map all on one day, Jan. 6, virtually eliminating time for public feedback.