The Hawthorne section of South Philadelphia, a neighborhood densely populated with LGBT residents, will get a new City Council district under redistricting plans tentatively approved by council last week.
Critics say the move will dilute the emerging LGBT voting bloc in the 1st District, which now covers Center City east of Broad, along with areas near the Delaware River.
Hawthorne lies between Broad and 11th streets, from South Street to Washington Avenue.
That area — just south of the Gayborhood — is in the 1st District, but would be added to the 2nd District under two similar bills pending in City Council.
The 2nd District now covers Center City west of Broad and much of South Philadelphia.
City Council could pass one or both measures as early as Sept. 22. The bill(s) would then go to Mayor Nutter for his consideration.
If he vetoes both measures, City Council would need at least 12 votes to override the veto and enact a plan.
Mark McDonald, a spokesperson for Nutter, had no comment on the Hawthorne matter.
But a neighborhood leader was outspoken in his opposition.
“The plans are totally unacceptable,” said Raed Nasser, vice president of the Hawthorne Empowerment Coalition, a civic association representing Hawthorne’s 3,400 residents.
Nasser said Hawthorne has forged numerous relationships with civic organizations in the 1st District — relationships which he said would be “disrupted” by the plans. He also said the neighborhood has seen a “dramatic increase” in LGBT residents recently.
“We don’t want to be in a different council district, separated from the support we have on the east side of Broad Street,” Nasser said.
He said the organization is considering ways to fight the plan.
Redistricting is taking place throughout Philadelphia, as district boundaries must be revised every 10 years — after census data is released — to account for population shifts.
In the past decade, many residents and businesses moved away from the western part of the city, thus necessitating western districts to gain more residents from other parts of the city.
Philadelphia has 10 council districts, and each must cover about 152,000 people. It also has five at-large council members who represent the entire city.
Nasser said Broad Street is a long-established dividing line between the 1st and 2nd districts, and shouldn’t be breached to accomplish redistricting.
He said representatives of the coalition didn’t testify at recent City Council hearings on redistricting because they weren’t aware of the changes in store for Hawthorne, but intend to testify at a council hearing on Sept. 22.
Frederic Murphy, a Temple University professor who testified, said putting Hawthorne in the 2nd District would dilute the emerging LGBT electorate in the 1st District.
“Separating out Hawthorne is a clear act of dividing neighborhoods to gain political power,” Murphy told PGN. “The LGBT community in Hawthorne becomes collateral damage in the power plays of redistricting.”
Another LGBT-related redistricting dispute involves the 8th Ward, which City Council refuses to place in one council district. Instead, the ward straddles two districts.
About 34,000 people live in the ward, which covers Center City west of Broad Street to the Schuylkill River, from Spring Garden to Lombard streets.
Republican and Democratic committee people have urged City Council to place the ward in one district, without taking a position on what district that should be.
“Being in one district would eliminate a lot of red tape and bureaucracy in the political process,” said Gregg A. Kravitz, an openly bisexual 8th Ward committeeperson. “The system is broken when you have a ward split into two council districts.”
On neighborhood issues, Kravitz said, committee people must deal with the offices of 5th District Councilmember Darrell Clarke and 2nd District Councilmember Anna Verna.
“The process is cumbersome and should be streamlined,” he said. “When you have a problem, it would be easier to pick up the phone and call one office rather than trying to navigate the bureaucracy of two offices.”
Straddling two council districts also dilutes the ward’s clout, he added.
“The Boy Scouts building is a perfect example,” Kravitz continued. “There’s strong opposition to selling that building to an organization that discriminates. But it’s hard for the 8th Ward to speak in a unified voice on the issue. Only half of the 8th Ward’s committee people represent divisions in the 5th District, where the building is located.”
Kravitz added: “Fortunately, Councilman Clarke has been very helpful in not pushing through the sale. But on another issue with another council member, things might not turn out as well.”
Stephen N. Huntginton, a board member of the Center City Residents Association, said to his knowledge, no member of City Council has replied to a recent letter from the group calling for the ward to be in one council district. “We just want to be in one bailiwick,” Huntington told PGN.
Tim Cwiek can be reached at [email protected].