Manatee commission narrows down redistricting plans to one map. Here's what it looks like
Divided commissioners approve Map B2 in 4-3 vote.
UPDATED, Dec. 9, 2021 with copy of Map B2 and a few other details.
The Manatee County Commission’s meeting Tuesday about redrawing of the county’s five single-member districts had all the ingredients of classic political sausage making: Horse trading over maps and questioning of motives. Promises of lawsuits and more discord. Claims of self-importance and flashes of impatience.
For good measure, there also were the commission’s favorite ingredients, a pinch of disingenuous with a dash of indignation.
But after three hours of debate and public comment, commissioners had what in prior meetings had proved elusive: A single map that by Dec. 14, should be ready for a final vote — but only after more comments and debate.
Commissioners voted 4-3 to forward Map B2 for final consideration next week. Voting for were commissioners Vanessa Baugh, George Kruse, James Satcher and Kevin Van Ostenbridge.
Voting against were commissioners Reggie Bellamy, Misty Servia and Carol Whitmore. They instead voted for Map A1, which had been submitted by the county’s redistricting consultant.
Map B2 is a slight variation of Map B1, a so-called “compromise” map submitted last week by Kruse. The only difference between the two is that Map B2 moves the lightly-populated portion of Terra Ceia Island north of Interstate 275 from a new District 3, represented by Ostenbridge, to a new District 1 represented by Satcher.
Satcher said he believed he was the fourth vote needed to approve a map so he made clear that the creation of a “country to coast” District 3 was needed to win his support.
The change represented a compromise by Van Ostenbridge, who had hoped the new District 3, which now covers West Bradenton, Anna Maria Island and the Manatee portion of Longboat Key, would be extended across the river to take in Snead Island and all of Terra Ceia.
“If all of us are upset with the map, then it’s probably fair,” Van Ostenbridge said.
Whitmore, too, said she favored a creation of a “coastal district,” but her strongest reservations were about what Map B2 would do to District 2, the county’s current majority-minority district represented by Bellamy, the commission’s sole Black member and sole Democrat.
Map B2 would break up District 2’s so-called “urban core,” predominantly minority neighborhoods in the cities of Bradenton and Palmetto. The Palmetto portion would remain in District 2 but the section in Bradenton would be moved to District 3.
“You are all about to be responsible for breaking up the urban core, which has been part of District 2 for at least 50 years,” Bellamy said before the vote .
Bellamy said the change would dilute the influence of minority voters in District 2.
“It slaughters the minority representation, and y’all my be content with that. … For the record, I am not.”
On this, former commissioner Charles B. Smith, who lost to Bellamy in 2018 and is challenging him in next year’s Democratic primary, agreed.
“What is taking place here … is a travesty,” Smith said.
Smith and others in the community had pushed to extend District 2’s northern boundary further north to take in Rubonia, the county’s oldest predominantly Black neighborhood.
Bellamy had opposed such a move, worried that adding predominantly white neighborhoods adjacent to Rubonia to avoid the appearance of possible gerrymandering, would dilute minority influence in District 2.
But Bellamy changed his mind and late Monday submitted a proposed Map C1, a version of B1 that moved Rubonia to District 2 and preserved the urban core.
Map C1 never won sufficient support for further consideration, so Bellamy threw his backing behind Map A1, the plan submitted by consultant John Guthrie that also kept the urban core in District 2.
Under Map B2, Rubonia would be moved from District 1 and into District 3, represented by Van Ostenbridge
Combined with other changes, the new District 2 under Map B2, according to Whitmore and Bellamy, would not only be less of a minority district but where a Republican would stand a better chance of being elected to the commission.
The racial makeup of a new District 2 is key to the redistricting process as it must comply with the federal voting rights law and court precedents. Plus, community activists in District 2 have threatened to sue depending on what changes redistricting brings.
Kruse disputed that he was trying to draw an advantage for the GOP in his map’s District 2, noting that his map was more advantageous for Democrats than other maps that had been considered. He said his plan also improved chances for a Democrat to be elected in District 4, now represented by Servia, a Republican.
As for whether a redistricting plan can withstand court scrutiny, Andy Bardos, the county’s legal advisor on redistricting, said that both Map A1 and Map B1 were “legally defensible. As of early Tuesday afternoon, he had not had the chance to review Map B2.
Other major features of Map B2 include the creation of a new “agricultural district” in District 1, that would moves the Myakka City area now represented by Baugh into a District 3 represented by Satcher. It also would extend District 4’s western boundary to the Sarasota Bay coastline, a move opposed by District 4 Commissioner Servia.
You can review the proposed redistricting plans on a redistricting page on the county government’s website.
You can watch Tuesday’s meeting here:
You can reach the writer at Marc.R.Masferrer@gmail.com
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