After two years, Berkeley City Council is on the brink of making a historic decision Tuesday night regarding the creation of a student-majority district.
It has taken countless meetings, a ballot measure and a handful of maps, but the council soon may finally approve a new City Council district map that would create a student-majority district within the city of Berkeley. Many say such a district would be the first of its kind in the United States.
The council, at its Tuesday night meeting, will take its first vote of two to adopt an ordinance adjusting the City Council district boundaries to those suggested by an ASUC-backed map called the Berkeley Student District Campaign, which was proposed in 2011.
In the summer, controversy arose when some students recognized that three residence halls on the east side of campus, along with International House and the Berkeley Student Cooperatives on Northside, were not included in the student-majority district the map suggests.
In July, Stefan Elgstrand, a senior and an intern for Councilmember Kriss Worthington, submitted the United Student District Amendment, which included the previously omitted housing units.
Creating a student-majority district will pave the way for electing a council member who can advocate for the student population, which comprises 25 percent of the city’s total residents, according to ASUC External Affairs Vice President Safeena Mecklai.
“We need representatives on the council who walk amongst us and experience what we experience,” said Mecklai, whose office is overseeing the student-majority-district creation process.
According to Councilmember Jesse Arreguin, city officials intentionally created district lines in 1986 that divided the campus’ student voting bloc. Berkeley kept these controversial boundaries for decades, he said, despite the fact that they prevented the formation of a student-majority district.
Last year, the City Council voted to delay redistricting until after November 2012 so voters would have a chance to approve a ballot measure allowing district lines to be redrawn.
After the measure passed, campus and community members alike began the process of redrawing the boundary lines and debating over which map, including several that proposed the creation of a student-majority district, was best.
On Tuesday night, the City Council will consider two final maps. While the council is slated to do its first formal approval of the BSDC map, it is still possible for the council to put that process on hold to give further consideration to the USDA map.
“(The USDA map) still has the value of creating a student district,” said Michelle Nacouzi, president of the Berkeley Student Cooperative, which voted to support the USDA in July. “But it’s one step better than the original map because it includes Northside.”
Elgstrand, the creator of the USDA map, said he believes that one major amendment is necessary, although his map does not radically differ from BSDC’s, which he used as a template.
“We want to optimize the inclusivity of the student district to make sure the voices are heard,” Elgstrand said.
Councilmember Max Anderson, with Arreguin and Worthington, favors the newer map.
Former ASUC external affairs vice president Joey Freeman, who oversaw the beginning phases of the student-district campaign, said the BSDC map creates a student-majority district that does a good job of representing as many students as possible while still following criteria in the city’s charter about redistricting.
Mecklai said the Northside cooperatives still would be adequately represented in the BSDC-created student-majority district because the elected official would be accountable to the concerns of the cooperative community.
“When you’re making a district of around 14,000 people to represent a community of 35,000, it’s impossible to make sure everyone is in the district,” she said. “That does not mean, however, that the needs of the community will go unheard.”
Gladys Rosario covers city news. Contact her at [email protected] and follow her on Twitter @gladysrosario93.