COLUMBUS – Columbus City Council has approved a new map, which draws nine residential districts and requires a councilmember to live in each of them.
Under changes approved voters in 2018, the council will add two additional members in 2023, increasing membership to nine, and voters citywide will choose from among all the candidates on the ballot beginning with that year’s election, when all nine seats will be up for election.
A councilmember is required to live in each of the nine districts, containing between 100,000 and 101,000 residents, while still representing the city at-large.
The change was seen as a compromise between those who wanted to restore the ward system to make council members more accountable to neighborhoods and those who wanted to maintain the at-large system
“Proximity is essential for good government, and this new system puts representatives closer to residents,” Council president Shannon Hardin said.
The selected map was based on months of public meetings and public input conducted by a commission appointed earlier this year. The map was edited slightly in the Graceland and Clintonville areas.