Councilmen Work to Hammer Out Redistricting Deal

The equation is relatively simple: Councilman Tom Quirk's district needs voters and they can only come from one place.

"I've got to give him some of my people," said Councilman Ken Oliver, a Democrat who represents the 4th District.

Oliver's district meets Quirk's district along the Route 40 West corridor. The voters needed to even out the 1st District are all in Oliver's district — it's just a matter of where.

"That's the $64,000 question," Oliver said.

Quirk's district is currently about 7,200 people short of the target population goal of 115,293 — a difference of about 6 percent.

The council, when it redraws the lines doesn't have to make up the entire difference. It only has to make up enough to satisfy court requirements that the districts be substantially equal. That means that as long as each district's population is between 109,258 and 121,057 — a difference of 5 percent under or over the target number — the districts are considered equal.

Oliver said Quirk is interested in acquiring the precinct that votes at Woodlawn High School — nearly 3,700 people who are nearly all solid Democratic votes. Oliver favors giving up the precinct that votes at Featherbed Lane Elementary — about 2,500 voters.

"We'll get it hashed out," Oliver said.

The council's Redistricting Commission is scheduled to meet tomorrow at 3 p.m. in Towson to discuss possible changes to the county's seven council districts.

The meeting is open to the public.