The city redistricting commission is getting heated as commissioners attempt to finish their Dallas city redistricting plan and present it to city council.
In a Facebook post Tuesday morning prior to a 9:30AM Redistricting Commission Meeting, District 8 Commissioner seemed to be openly attacking the idea of Hispanics on City Council arguing his map (17) gave four opportunities for Blacks or Hispanics to be represented, but another map under consideration (41) provided no opportunity for Black representation.
Dallas City Redistricting Members Openly Attack Citizen Input
In the same post Bryant attacked Bill Betzen, a self professed data geek, over his amendment to Map 17.
It is unclear what history, Bryant and Betzen may have from the past, but some say the behavior attacking a citizen trying to contribute to the redistricting plan has a chilling effect on citizen participation -which is supposed to be a goal of the group.
Bryant is listed as President of a group, Politics United Marketing, and two sources have told Other Side Dallas that Bryant is angling for future political work for his firm.
Turnout in local elections has been historically low. The recent schools elections this past Saturday had an average county turnout of only six percent.
The issues between I and Randall Bryant are based on opinions on redistricting data. I worked and showed that 4 minority communities in northeast Dallas east of Coit/Central/Loop 12 were cracked into 4 majority White Dallas City Council districts eliminating any potential for a Black City Councilperson in the area. When these 4 cracked districts are united into one district you suddenly have a 72.7% minority district that is 51.6% CVAP Black. Since the White CVAP is only 25% it makes this a very winnable Black District. Mr. Bryant does not agree. I say what do we lose with this change? The potential for an articulate conficent Black leader to help lead and change this area of Dallas.