Public Comments Gathered On 'Council By District' Proposal

DETROIT (WWJ) - Public comment is being gathered in Detroit on four different "draft maps" that propose to slice the city into seven separate voting districts for City Council and Police Commissioner seats.

WWJ's Florence Walton spoke with several people attending the meeting at Greater Grace Temple in Detroit, who said they like the map drawn up by Data Driven Detroit over all four of the options drawn up by Council Planning Commission.

"And I don't think downtown should be split up - I think the Data Driven Detroit map would be great ..." said one audience member.

Councilman James Tate is concerned that too many people want districts to divide rather than unite the city.

"But the one thing that we don't want is for there to be these walls built around communities, especially those that have been working together, and then the others that have the potential to work together, because you are right next to each other," said Tate.

Three more meetings are planned in and around Detroit to address the issue.

The next District Map public meeting is scheduled for Monday, Feb. 9, at 7 p.m. at Second Ebenezer Church.