The Denver City Council approved a new map Tuesday night that will set council district boundaries for the next three city elections starting in 2023.
Before the deciding votes were handed down, a handful of Denver residents blasted the redistricting process as unfair and the map as inequitable.
The city’s 10-year redistricting process dates back to last spring but moved into the public input and council debate phases this February. Using 2020 U.S. Census data and precinct maps redrawn by the city clerk last year, councilmembers submitted six maps for public scrutiny.
By Tuesday night, just Map D, originally sponsored by councilmembers Jolon Clark, Chris Herndon, Paul Kashmann, Chris Hinds, Kendra Black and Council President Stacie Gilmore, was left standing. With Councilwoman Amanda Sawyer withdrawing her own map during committee-level debates and throwing her support behind Map D, it already had the seven votes necessary for adoption heading into the meeting. It passed on a vote of 12 to 1 with just Councilwoman Candi CdeBaca voting no.
CdeBaca has been the most forceful voice against the map throughout the process. CdeBaca represents District 9, home to some of the city neighborhoods deemed most vulnerable to gentrification and economic displacement. She submitted a map, Map A, that would have grown District 9 to the east to absorb potions of Northeast Park Hill, another vulnerable neighborhood. The map approved Tuesday puts Northeast Park Hill in District 8 while putting most of North Park Hill and South Park Hill in District 9.