It's been unclear who will be leading San Diego's new 9th Council District until now.
The City's Redistricting Committee has been working to draw up new boundaries for the city's council districts for the past couple of months. Those lines get redrawn every 10 years to better reflect population changes according to the census. This year they have a new district to contend with, the addition tied to voters' preference for the "strong mayor" form of government.
According to the preliminary map, the 9th District lines will surround the College Area through City Heights and Southcrest.
But residents in those areas won't have a council member for about another year, until after the 2012 election.
However, City Council President Tony Young said they'll still have a voice at City Hall.
"I'm proposing, the council members who previously represented those areas, but lost those areas because of redistricting, continue to represent them when it comes to services, constituent calls, complaints and issues that are important to them," Young said.
Once the new districts kick in, Young said, he and council members Todd Gloria, Marty Emerald will temporarily represent some of their former constituents.
The issue goes back to a few years ago, when a new 9th District had to be drawn up due to San Diego’s switch to a strong-mayor form of government. But there were never any clear rules on what to do if residents were left without representation for a period of time.
Over the next couple of weeks, Young will be working with City Attorney Jan Goldsmith to take the plan before the council. He hopes to have a plan in place by the time the new boundaries kick in on Sept. 25th.
