Tempers Flare Over Providence Redistricting Proposal

Tempers Flare Over Providence Redistricting Proposal

Several dozen Providence residents spoke out against a proposal that would redraw the city’s ward map to give control over downtown to one Council member at the final public hearing on the city’s redistricting process Wednesday.

Under the proposal, Council Majority Leader Seth Yurdin (Ward 1), the chairman of the Committee on Ward Boundaries, would stand to benefit from gaining the majority of downtown. Currently the neighborhood is represented mostly by Davian Sanchez (Ward 11) and Bryan Principe (Ward 13).

Critics say the plan would further disenfranchise the minority community – particularly African-Americans – by allowing Yurdin, who represents Fox Point on the East Side, to gain control over the lucrative 195 land. One resident suggested the “Ku Klux Klan” was taking over downtown.

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But the plan introduced by Sanchez and Principe, which would keep downtown represented by multiple Council members, would also take away one of the districts represented mostly by minorities, reducing the number of majority-minority wards from five to the minimum number of four.

The city’s Home Rule Charter requires that ward boundaries be evaluated every ten years following the federal census to reflect changes in the city’s population. Sitting on the committee with Yurdin are Councilmen John Igliozzi, David Salvatore, Luis Aponte and Wilbur Jennings.

Kimball Brace, who has come under fire for helping to redraw the state’s General Assembly and Congressional districts, is working as the consultant for the Council. His company, Election Data Services, will make $126,374 from the city.

All three Wards on the East Side lost population according to the latest census data, which is part of the reason a redraw is necessary. Yurdin’s district lost about 500 residents while Wards 2 and 3 combined to lose nearly 1,800 voters. The committee has argued that Yurdin picking up downtown is the most logical move to gain voters.

Conflict of Interest

It is likely that Yurdin’s plan will be voted out of committee this evening.

According to some residents, the new boundaries would devastate the South Side of the city. Darrell Lee, a developer from the South Side who has been an outspoken critic of the plan, said his neighborhood would be cut out of any economic development opportunities arising from the 195 property, even though Sanchez would keep the neighborhood surrounded by the hospital.

Lee said it is unfair that Yurdin would benefit from gaining downtown. He suggested the Majority Leader was breaking “natural boundaries” to control the neighborhood.

“I think it is conflict of interest that the chairman would gain the political power [of representing downtown],” Lee said. “It’s a very clear conflict of interest.”

Lee called the entire proposal “political trickery” and vowed to take his battle to court if the current plan is supported by the Council.

“We’re going to fight you,” he told the committee. “We’re going to put the money on the table and take it to court.”

The question of politics playing a role in the process has been an ongoing discussion. Sanchez was among the Council members that supported Councilman Luis Aponte’s bid for Council President in 2011 and his relationship with leadership is frosty. Sanchez was among several members not added to any Council committees last year, a move that was considered retribution for not supporting President Michael Solomon.

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