Milwaukee Common Council upholds Mayor Barrett's veto of aldermanic district map
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Members will try again to redraw the city's aldermanic district lines.
The council on Tuesday, Dec. 14, sustained Mayor Tom Barrett's veto of their recent version of the map.
"Electoral districts must be drawn so that the ballot of minority voters are not diluted," said activist Jesus Salas.
Latino advocacy groups like Voces de la Frontera called on the mayor to veto the map. They said the districts in the earlier version water down representation of Milwaukee's growing Latino population.
The mayor agreed. He vetoed the maps, and on Tuesday, aldermen and women voted to uphold that veto.
"I feel like the process that we've gone through was inclusive and that we did not trample over the rights of any residents in the city of Milwaukee," said Ald. Ashanti Hamilton. "But that doesn't mean that we can't improve upon the map that was voted on."
Latino leaders want the lines redrawn to create a new aldermanic district with a Hispanic majority in addition to the two that already exist.
Mayor Barrett released a statement praising the council's action and calling for "revisions needed to ensure fairness and inclusion."