Baltimore County leaders make push to expand council to accommodate growing population

BALTIMORE -- Maryland and Baltimore County leaders came together to call for an open and transparent process to expand the county council by four seats.

A bill already passed in the current Baltimore County Council has only called for expanding two seats, but advocates say the county's growing population calls for more.

A growing population that comes with the need for more representation has created an unprecedented moment for leaders in Baltimore County to push for expanding the number of council members and districts to accommodate the nearly 50% minority population.

"If you look at the council now, we are a completely male council, with councilman Julian Jones as the sole African American member," said Baltimore County Councilmember Patrick Young. "That makes us diverse by 17%.  

"It makes a more significant reduction in the number of constituents that each councilperson represents, and because of its comparison to the other measure that we've heard about, it creates a public facing mapping process," added Eric Ebersole, from the Maryland House of Delegates.

That other measure is a bill sponsored by Councilman Izzy Patoka, which passed in a 5-1 vote on July 1 by the current Baltimore County Council. 

That plan includes adding only two seats compared to the four seats being called for by the efforts of the "Vote 4more Coalition," who laid out what they believe is a better plan for diverse representation.

"Reduce the size of the districts, allow all those new people to have the same rights as the current people who are incumbents, to name people to 57 boards and commissions," said Linda Dorsey-Walker, chair of the "Vote 4more Coalition."

"I think it provides an open transparent process that will enable citizens to be heard and to dictate what the districts will look like and then fair and free elections and elect the people they want," said Baltimore County Councilman Julian Jones.

The next step turns toward a July 29 deadline when the "Vote 4more Coalition" will submit the more than 10,000 signatures required to amend this measure that will appear on the November ballot for voters to decide.

"We're making it clear now that we shouldn't accept anything but an opportunity at every instance for public input and I think in doing so, we become a better county and more diverse county as well," Young said.