Districts could change, but city won’t release voting maps
A lobbyist paid $100,000 by Miami taxpayers to redraw the city’s voting map is ready to present his plan next week to city commissioners — but unwilling to give voters a sneak peak.
Holland & Knight attorney and lobbyist Miguel
De Grandy will unveil his maps at 11 a.m. Monday before Miami’s five city commissioners, whose district boundaries will change depending on which plan is approved.
Likewise, for voters, the commission’s final decision on which map to approve will determine whether their representa
tion changes at City Hall.
But residents apparently won’t get an advance look at the once-adecade process, intended to evenly distribute political power inside city limits by balancing the population of each district. This week, when the Miami Herald requested the information, City Manager Art Noriega wrote in an email that De Grandy will be debuting the maps on Monday, but not before.
“The consultant wishes to present the information and subsequent materials at the special meeting. He has not and will not be distributing any information ahead of the 7th,” Noriega wrote in an email.
When pressed on why such a matter of public interest is not being published before the meeting, Noriega responded that De Grandy wishes to “present the maps and put the analysis into context at the same time.”
“Otherwise, back up documentation without the proper presentation can be misinterpreted,” Noriega wrote.
De Grandy, a former state representative, did not immediately respond to the Herald’s questions Friday.
Every 10 years, the city uses the U.S. Census to review population and demographic changes of its five commission districts to ensure voters are fairly represented in City Hall. In 1997, Miami voters passed a referendum creating districts after a citywide election the previous year left Miami without a Black elected official. Since district boundaries were first drawn, three have consistently elected Hispanics, one has typically elected white non-Hispanics and another has elected Black commissioners.
In the past, the city has held multiple public town halls to discuss proposed changes with voters. In late 2021, Miami-Dade County held more than a dozen meetings and published maps of redrawn county districts before the commission discussed the proposals. Though typically not well-attended, town halls allow the community to vet changes to their districts. The new Miami-Dade districts were approved in December.
Monday’s hearing is intended to disseminate information to the public before commissioners take a vote on the final map at a later meeting.
Redistricting has generated debate in the community before, and De Grandy was there for it.
In 2012, De Grandy led the city’s redistricting process, which spurred arguments when residents in Miami’s Upper East Side neighborhood, then in District 2, were moved to District 5, which includes Liberty City, Little Haiti, Wynwood and Overtown. Shorecrest spoke out against the shift in multiple public meetings. Commissioners approved the new district map in 2013 after several delays.
In recent commission hearings, De Grandy has presented general information about how the city’s population has changed, offering a general idea of what might be proposed.
His analysis shows that Miami’s population is 442,241. And District 2, which includes most of the city’s waterfront and urban core stretching from Coconut Grove to Morningside, has about 116,700 residents and would need to shrink in size to keep the population of each district balanced.
Redistricting could change who votes in the next municipal candidate election in 2023. The commission seats for District 1, currently represented by Alex Díaz de la Portilla, District 2, currently represented by Ken Russell, and District 4, currently represented by Manolo Reyes, will be up for election in November 2023.
Commissioners are also up against a deadline that, if missed, could cost the city. De Grandy told commissioners in December that Miami-Dade County’s Elections Department needs a final plan by the end of February in order to properly assign precincts before 2022 elections. If Miami’s commission approves redrawn maps after the county deadline, the city would have to pay about $135,000 to cover the costs of reassigning precincts and printing new voter cards.
De Grandy, who has been registered to lobby commissioners on several high-profile interests, was the city’s second choice for a redistricting consultant. The first, former state Senate President Bill Galvano, was briefly under contract until questions arose about Galvano’s role leading a controversial redrawing of voting districts following the 2010 census for the Florida Legislature. That process resulted in years of litigation and an admission that Republicans intentionally drew districts that favored incumbents and parties. Galvano quit in January 2021.