Redistricting passes under fire
City council accused of favoritism, ‘bleaching’ districts; contractor claims African-American population not significant, condensed enough to be discriminated against
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Many local residents now have new representatives on the Kokomo Common Council, thanks to a newly redistricted map which was adopted on Nov. 28. But its passage didn’t take place without controversy. A competing map-maker alleged favoritism and racial discrimination as motivators behind the chosen reallocation of voters.
Perhaps sensing the impending protest, Council president Ray Collins pre-empted the council meeting with his own statement about the redistricting process, thanking those who participated in the process either by submitting a map or making comment, as well as the contractor Kroger, Gardis & Regas; the Indianapolis law firm tasked with creating the map that was chosen by the council.
Collins then touted the public manner by which the redistricting process took place.
“I did this so we would be open and honest and have input from the public,” said Collins.
As a point of reference, Collins reviewed the previous redistricting, which took place in 2012 without public input.
“I’m not saying it was done wrong or right, but it was passed on suspension of the rules on first and second reading,” said Collins. “So, I am very pleased with the process we did, involving the public and giving them a chance for comment.”
When it came time for the public to make comment on the map, however, the fairness and transparency of the process was directly called into question. Kokomo resident Andrew Ellison, who submitted a competing map for consideration, alleged that the chosen map exhibits racial discrimination.
“I know there has been a lot of discussion about how this was laid out and there is a lot of confidence that there has been transparency and discussion through the process,” said Ellison. “I personally feel that is flatly not true.
“I think every member of the council and the public know the importance of the outcome. For one, the map is going to fail to deliver for the Black residents on the northeast side of Kokomo. The guidelines you sought out made it clear that there was a need and an interest in making sure minority representation is focused on allowing them to select a candidate of their choosing as their representative. I think the map fails to deliver on that promise.”
Ellison then accused Collins, an African-American Republican, of having the redistricting map redrawn to his own benefit at the expense of other council members.
“I think it was specifically done for partisan reasons,” said Ellison. “Councilman Collins, your district will be ‘bleached’ in a sense. The Black residents will be removed with partisan efforts to remove Democrats from the district to make it more favorable for your re-election. And it will disadvantage two members of this council in their re-election bids.
“Councilmen (Lynn) Rudolph (2nd District) and (David) Capshaw (1st District), I personally think you are being thrown under the bus. You are being put in a difficult situation to benefit Councilman Collins. And I think disadvantaging Black residents to play partisan games is playing favorites for what I call ‘the Kokomo clique.’ It doesn’t matter if you are a Democrat or Republican in this city. If you’re not in that clique, they call the shots and you’re out.”
Ellison went on to rehash the Republican Party’s pressure to have Greg Jones resign his 4th District council seat after it was discovered he had made racially insensitive comments on social media. And he pointed out how Jones’ replacement, Roger Stewart, was not pressured to resign for making similar comments.
Ellison also touched on the resignation of Jason Acord last spring, alleging that the Republican Party forced him out after belatedly discovering he did not live in his district.
“There is a long thread of favoritism on this council,” said Ellison. “I feel like there are winners and losers in the redistricting process, but I’m very concerned about the culture in city government right now. I feel like there is favoritism being played for some council members at the expense of disfavor for others.”
Ellison’s accusations did not go unanswered. Doug Kowalski, attorney with Kroger Gardis & Regis, rebutted the accusations of racial bias.
“The guidelines said there would be no dilution or packing of minority vote, based on the Voting Right Act,” said Kowalski. “To have discrimination on a racial basis, you have to have a significant percentage of minority population, and they have to be condensed in a small enough area to be statistically material. Kokomo has an African-American population of 10 percent. And that population is not condensed enough to meet the qualifications for discrimination.”
Kowalski contended that Ellison’s map was actually the option risking discrimination.
“There are two ways to discriminate,” said Kowalski. “One is dilution, to split up their vote among different districts so they don’t have the power to vote together. The second is minority packing, which is what the other map tried to do.
“A group of all-White men who identified as Democrats said they wanted to put two primarily African-American precincts together. I don’t think that is racially discriminatory because it doesn’t meet the requirements, but if Kokomo did have a significant African-American population, packing them all together in one district would be a violation.
“These maps were made by looking at the Voting Rights Act. They were made with the smallest changes possible to make sure the population was as equal as possible. Everybody’s vote counts the same.”
Councilman Tom Miklik called for the question following Kowalski’s rebuttal, thereby forcing the vote. The council voted unanimously to adopt the contractor’s redistricting map, setting the new council boundaries for the next decade.
We all know racism is alive a well in Kokomo, Howard County, and Indiana.
100% of racist vote Republican.