The process of redistricting Wilmington is set to begin

(Wilmington, DE) – The City of Wilmington will begin the process of redistricting its councilmanic districts the week of August 23, 2021. Per City Code/Charter, Sec. 2-32, the process, which happens every 10 years, sets forth the mandatory duty of the city council to redistrict the city into eight councilmanic districts within six months after the date of publication by the United States Census Bureau of the population of the city.  Because of the pandemic, the official population census numbers have been delayed but are scheduled to be disbursed by August 16, 2021, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s website.

To set in motion the process of redistricting, a redistricting committee has to be formed by Wilmington City Council. Per City Code/Charter, Sec. 2-32, the city council’s redistricting committee must be comprised of the president of city council and six members appointed by the president of city council. The following Councilpersons have been appointed to the official City Council Redistricting Committee: Council Member At-Large James Spadola, Council Member At-Large Rysheema Dixon, Council Member At-Large Maria Cabrera, 2^nd District Council Member Shané Darby, 3^rd District Council Member Zanthia Oliver, and 4^th District Council Member Michelle Harlee. President Ernest “Trippi” Congo will chair the committee.

The City Council Redistricting Committee is tasked with preparing a report that contains a recommended plan for adjusting the councilmanic district boundaries of districts one through eight to comply with the following specifications:

(1) Each district shall contain contiguous territories; and

(2) Each district shall contain as nearly as possible the same number of persons with no aggregate diversion in population more than ten percent from the average population for all districts, the average to be obtained by dividing the number eight into the total population of the city according to that federal decennial census so published.

To find a complete list of procedures the City Council Redistricting Committee must follow, visit the following link here.

Members of the public can attend the redistricting meetings either online, or in-person in Council Chambers located at the Louis L. Redding City/County building at 800 N. French Street, Wilmington, DE 19801. More information regarding an agenda posting for the Council Redistricting Committee/Public Hearing to be scheduled the week of August 23^rd is forthcoming and will be posted on Wilmington City Council’s “Events Calendar” here.

All City Council Redistricting Committee meetings will be broadcasted on our government access channel, WITN22, on Comcast Channel 22 and online on WITN22’s website and Facebook and YouTube page. If you happen to miss any of the meetings, each City Council Redistricting Committee meeting will be archived on our WITN22 website here for play back.

If you are unsure of which district you reside in, Wilmington City Council encourages you to submit your street address on their website here in the section “Find Your District Council Member.”