That area includes many of the city’s most conservative voters, who would have been moved into neighboring District 4, which includes parts of Mattapan, Jamaica Plain, and Roslindale. The rejected map severed a cluster of majority-white, high-turnout precincts in the southern tip of Dorchester from District 3. Wu’s proposal would keep the neighborhood whole, in one council district, as opposed to the map that was rejected by a federal court earlier this week, where Adams Street would have been dividing line between two council districts. Wu’s map will likely come as a relief to places such as Adams Street in Adams Village, which has been a front in the ongoing redistricting battle. The Jamaica Plain-based District 6 would extend north farther into Mission Hill. and Cass area and the Polish Triangle bordering Dorchester, but it would lose a chunk of the South End. District 2, which is based in South Boston, would gain the Mass. District 4 would also trade some precincts along its southwestern border with District 5, which is anchored in Hyde Park. Under the mayor’s plan, changes to the current district layout include placing all of Ward 16, which is a large swath of southern Dorchester, in District 3, including two precincts that are currently in neighboring District 4. With limited time, it’s critical that we all put politics aside for the people of Boston.” However, I need to do my due diligence and carefully review the proposed map. In a statement, Boston City Council President Ed Flynn said, “I respect Mayor Wu’s leadership on this issue. In her letter Friday, Wu urged the council to take action on redistricting at its next meeting, asking councilors to settle on a new map by the end of May. With council seats up for election this year, there is little room for another extended debate over the boundaries. And the most potential for chaos and confusion comes in neighboring districts 3 and 4, which cover different parts of Dorchester, and whose boundaries were at particular issue in the federal lawsuit. Now, under the watchful eye of the court, the council will have to devise a new map that complies with a complex tangle of federal legal requirements. ![]() And this week, a federal judge issued a preliminary injunction barring the city from the using the new districts, determining that the legal challenge had a chance of successfully proving race played too heavy a role in the redrawn lines. The political map drawn up by the City Council earlier this year after a bitter and protracted debate was challenged in federal court by a group of voters and civic associations.
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