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Boston City Council redistricting: Dividing neighborhoods. Again.

I love my house. It’s a wonderful spot in a wonderful neighborhood. My neighbors and I watch out for one another. We bring over cookies and attend on another’s parties. We have neighborhood gatherings. We decorate for Halloween. We all vote. In droves. We take our community and our civic responsibilities seriously. It’s a fantastic neighborhood.

While we view ourselves as one neighborhood — our elected officials do not. They continue to “redraw” us into new political districts every opportunity they get. And they do it with an eye toward their own interests — not to the interests of this amazing neighborhood.

The Boston City Council will be voting on a final redistricting map this Wednesday October 31st. The latest proposal gaining momentum would remove two precincts Ward 19 Precinct 7 (Forest Hills, Arboretum, Bourne area) and Precinct 12 (another large section of the Bourne area) out of Jamaica Plain and that is one precinct too many!

Please contact your district Councilor and 4 at-Large Councilors to make sure that they will vote against such a plan.

As someone who lives in Ward 19/precinct 12, I’m personally incredibly upset that our precinct continues to be “traded” around as if there were no impact on my neighbors’ lives.

In the 10 years I’ve lived at this address, I’ve been represented on the City Council by Rob Consalvo, Matt O’Malley and now, potentially, by Charles Yancey.

In Ward 19/Precinct 12, we are already politically divided from the rest of our neighborhood as we have been given a different US Congressman, a different state senator and a different state representative than our neighbors.

Dividing us further by redrawing us into another City Councilor’s area is one difference too much.

We are a neighborhood. We deserve the respect of our elected officials to be treated as such.

How is our neighborhood to have any voice in the process if we continue to be traded around politically like this and never have an opportunity to build a real relationship with our elected officials? It’s not surprising to me that the outcome of all of this horse-trading, is that we continue to be the “leftover” precinct and continue to our voices at the table be fragmented.

We are part of Ward 19. We should continue to have the same representation as our neighbors, because our concerns and needs are the same as theirs.

Here’s what you can do. SHARE this blog post on Facebook and Twitter.

*This Weekend:*
Please email the district councilor and 4 at-large councilors using the
following addresses:

- Matthew.O’[email protected]
- [email protected]
- [email protected]
- [email protected]
- [email protected]

*Monday October 29th:*
Please call these Councilors below

- District Councilor Matt O’Malley at 617-635-4220
- At-Large Councilor Felix G. Arroyo 617-635-4205
- At-Large Councilor John Connolly at 617-635-3115
- At-Large Councilor and Council President Stephen Murphy at 617-635-4376
- At-Large Councilor Ayanna Pressley 617-635-4217

Help our councilors to see us as one neighborhood. Like we see ourselves.

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Comments

Redistricting can be made more understandable. Label the Proposed Redistricting Maps with NAMES of Boston City Council Districts' BORDERING STREETS. Make the maps available online with a mechanism for overlaying maps for comparing the Proposals and the Current map.

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How does this plan not recognize the Forest Hills/Woodbourse area as a single 'neighborhood?' It takes the whole area intact and simply moves it to a new city council district. They're not proposing to run an interstate between Forest Hills and Bourne street. And as far as I know,they're not officially moving the area to Roslindale.

Sounds like someone is just too good for the Rozzie riff-raff.

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But the Woodbourne neighborhood includes both 7 *and* 12, as we're both in the same Ward.

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Hi Cubiclegirl,

I am a journalist with Emerson College and am doing a story for my masters project on redistricting. Would you mind letting me interview you and get your thoughts about redistricting out to our community? If so please email me at [email protected]. I would love to do a story on how redistricting effects the community members so your voices can be heard!!!

Best,
Melanie

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The big issues around Forest Hills, such as the Casey Overpass, Arborway Yard, etc, connects it more to the adjacent Stony Brook area than Rozzie. Having attending most of those meetings, I don't recall seeing Yancy even once. No disrespect intended, why would he? This area deserves focused attention, it won't get it if it's split off like this.

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What does the Arborway yard have to do with Bourne st? If you live south of Walk Hill st and you want to concern your self with the Arborway yard development, go to the meetings, call city hall - do all the same stuff you did before. Given that city councilors are virtually powerless, I don't see the problem.

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Hi Anonnie,

I am a journalist with Emerson College and am doing a story for my masters project on redistricting. Would you mind letting me interview you and get your thoughts about redistricting out to our community? If so please email me at [email protected]. I would love to do a story on how redistricting effects the community members so your voices can be heard.

Best,

Melanie

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Not sure whether it's a Rozzie/JP thing as much as an inability to affiliate across political boundaries. Which of course, is quite silly. Issues that matter in her precinct and ward will still matter. I suppose she'd prefer differently sized council districts, so that councilors represent differing numbers of constituents.

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How did you have three councilors in ten years? The districts are redrawn every ten years. Councilor Consalvo was elected as district councilor in June 2002; Councilor O'Malley in November 2010.

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they have to divide the city into 9 districts- everyone will want to stay in their own. the South End has never been whole and is represented by THREE councilors. IMO it's just selfish to complain that you will be shipped to a new district unless you can truly demonstrate me how being put in a new district will effect you.

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Precinct 12 is already divided from our neighborhood by having a different US Congressman, different state senator and different state rep. The only remaining political representation we have in common with our neighbors is city council. We would like to keep our community intact.

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I've been here 12 years... I've had Consalvo, Tobin and O'Malley. They want to redraw us into Yancey's district.

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fyi... your neighborhood is not the only one that is split and its sure isn't the only "neighborhood" that actively votes... like every neighborhood in the city, they all would like to be whole and intact... but in reality people move into this city and it changes the population every 10 years.
as for you having 3 councilors in 10 years, the likely cause is john tobin deciding to move on to bigger and better things... otherwise the seat would still be his.
sometimes its not all about you

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And she said now potentially Yancey. She had Consalvo in '02 until Oct. when the precinct moved to district6. All makes sense

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No apostrophe in Matt's email. He is at [email protected]

Is the current redistricting proposal online somewhere? I did a quick search for it and didn't find it, but probably missed it...

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Request the latest Redistricting update at
http://www.cityofboston.gov/contact/?id=138

For example, send the following request...

By email [insert your email here] please send the latest proposed for Redistricting including a) all textual descriptions, b) all maps, c) definitions of precincts, d) relevant Docket Numbers, d) any and all other related details.

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