Chicago City Council reaches tentative deal on new ward map with 17 Black wards and 14 Latino wards

The wards are being redrawn in accordance with outcomes from the 2020 census.

The compromise map, which Alderwoman Michelle Harris calls the “Chicago United Map,” would create 17 Black-majority wards, 14 Latino-majority wards and one Asian-American majority ward.

Redrawing Chicago wards map units off battle between Black, Latino caucuses

“I am thrilled my colleagues have come collectively in compromise in what has been a protracted and difficult course of,” Harris stated. “I’m prepared to maneuver our metropolis ahead with the Chicago United Map, because it represents a good map for all Chicagoans. I’ve all the time needed to keep away from a pricey referendum for Chicago’s taxpayers, and at present we achieved that.”

Months of negotiation had yielded little settlement, with numerous proposals generally together with 16 Black-majority wards and 15 Latino-majority wards, generally extra, generally much less. The one Asia American-majority ward was one level of settlement amongst all proposals.

United Working Households launched a press release praising the compromise map, saying, “We commend the elected members of our group for his or her exhausting work to succeed in a compromise on the Chicago United Map and thereby avert a prolonged and divisive referendum. At this time’s settlement will safe 14 Latino-majority wards, create the town’s first Asian-American ward, and keep sturdy illustration for Chicago’s Black communities throughout 17 Black-majority and Black-plurality wards. At this time’s settlement ensures that we can flip our consideration in the direction of the legislative points that matter most to our communities.”

The Individuals’s Coalition Map was not as optimistic, releasing a vital assertion saying partly, “So-called ‘reformers’ made backroom offers and determined that voters should not be allowed to decide on their map, and that is one thing the Individuals’s Coalition Map has all the time stood for. In consequence, Latinos misplaced for the second decade in a row. The biggest minority inhabitants in Chicago will not be pretty and precisely represented as such. The voices of immigrant populations stay on the fringes.”