Fifth Ward's Gain, Fourth Ward's Loss

Back in October, it was discovered that the residents of the 70 units at Crosswinds voted in the Fourth Ward but were counted for the purpose of calculating the weighted vote in the Fifth Ward. What's more, it was revealed that the boundary between the Fourth and Fifth wards used by the Board of Elections was not the boundary described in the city charter. Section C1-4 of the charter describes the eastern boundary of the Fourth Ward thus: "northerly along the center line of Fifth Street and a projection of said center line of Fifth Street to the northerly bounds of the City." The Common Council hired surveyor Jeffrey Plass to determine exactly where that projection of said center line fell, and a map showing its course was provided at last night's informal Common Council meeting.

As the map reveals, the boundary bisects the building on the grounds of the Firemen's Home where the residents live. At last night's meeting, Supervisor William Hughes (Fourth Ward), who seemed sanguine about the residents of Crosswinds who presumably voted for him not being represented by him, wanted the Council to decree that all of the Firemen's Home was in the Fourth Ward. 

Hughes also called for a new survey map to be done of the entire city. That hardly seems necessary. What does seem necessary is redefining this particular ward boundary. Everywhere else in the city, streets are used to define ward boundaries. This seems to be the only ward boundary that is "projected" and hence requires a surveyor to figure out where it's supposed to be.

The ward boundary described in the charter very likely dates back to 1886, when the Fifth Ward was first created. The two 1888 atlas maps shown below don't include the part of the boundary in question, but from what they do show, one may surmise that Harry Howard Avenue, as we know it, did not exist in 1886, and when the boundary was defined there was an expectation that this part of the city, when it was developed, would continue the grid pattern of the rest of the city.

      
How much simpler it would be for everyone if the Common Council just adopted Harry Howard Avenue as the ward boundary, which is what the ward map distributed by the Board of Elections has shown all along. But how much fairer it would be if we abandoned the wards altogether for the purpose of voting and legislative representation and established equal population election districts.
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