Councilor Isaac Benton’s district was annihilated after February’s redistricting. The region he represents includes the University area, Downtown and Barelas. With the new plan, those will be split up and tacked onto other districts, while the Westside gains a Council seat.
The vote for this plan happened, as usual, along party lines. Democrat councilors oppose it, saying minority representation in the city will be diluted.
So Benton’s come up with another plan. Why not increase the number of districts? The issue should be considered by the Council on Aug. 6 when meetings resume after summer break.
District 3—UNM, Downtown, Barelas—has been carved up, with pieces tacked onto neighboring districts. The move lumps most of the city’s federally designated “pockets of poverty” into one district.
You can't ask for a better councilor than Isaac Benton. Early in his first term, he was faced with the immediate problem of flooding in Barelas and the Santa Barbara / Martineztown area. Benton says the flooding wasn't a top priority of Mayor Martin Chavez' administration at first. He passed a bill through the Council that forced it to the top of Chavez' to-do list. Benton's efforts resulted in new storm drainage retention ponds in those neighborhoods that reduce the chance of future floods.
