Map D Wins … Lowry Still in District 5

April 9, 2022 / Comments (0)

City Counsel Info Civic News Lowry Community Organizations RNO & the City of Denver

After months of deliberations, Denver City Council adopted map D to redraw city council district boundaries for the next 10 years based on population shifts reflected in the 2020 census data.

During the redistricting process, Councilwoman Sawyer heard from Denver residents how important it was to keep identified communities of interest together, and, as much as possible, to keep neighborhoods whole. Trying to balance these critical considerations while also following the Charter requirements for compactness and relatively equal district populations was no easy challenge. But she believes Map D does an excellent job of balancing all these different interests. 

The map shifts a significant section of downtown from council member Candi CdeBaca’s current District 9 into council member Chris Hinds’ District 10. CdeBaca voted against Map D, which was co-sponsored by Hinds.

  • CdeBaca’s district gains North and South Park Hill from District 8, the territory of term-limited council member Chris Herndon.
  • The map also moves Cherry Creek and Country Club into council member Amanda Sawyer’s District 5 and East Colfax into District 8.
  • The East Colfax neighborhood advocated to be moved into the same Council district as residents of Northeast Park Hill and Montbello because those neighborhoods are facing similar issues of gentrification and displacement.
  • The Winston Downs neighborhood requested that their neighborhood be reunited under a single Council District; this neighborhood has been split between two Council districts for the last decade.
  • Lowry residents gave feedback that they wanted to remain in Council District 5, instead of being moved into a different Council district.
  • District 5’s Orthodox Jewish community, specifically residents living south of Alameda in South Hilltop and Winston Downs, wanted to remain together in a single Council district instead of being split between two Council districts.
  • During the redistricting process, District 5 had the most participation of any Council district in the city.We heard feedback from a number of residents.

Again, this new map incorporating changed district boundaries will be in effect for the 2023 municipal election but will not change the Councilmember representation under the current map. For example, residents of Cherry Creek and Country Club will vote for the District 5 Councilmember in April 2023, but will be represented by Councilman Hinds until July 2023 when the new Mayor and City Council class are inaugurated. Similarly, Amanda Sawyer will continue to represent the residents of southern East Colfax until July 2023, although they will vote for the Council District 8 Councilmember in April of 2023.