Every 10 years, the City Council flips the city upside down and remaps Chicago’s 50 wards. With the just-released tallies of Chicago residents from the U.S. Census Bureau, it’s time for the political sport to begin.

Redistricting can be Chicago politics at its most contentious and convoluted, as the council’s 50 aldermen prioritize re-electability over coherent boundaries.

“The first effort in remapping is an incumbent protection program,” said Dick Simpson, a political science professor at the University of Illinois-Chicago and Chicago Journal columnist.

With a newly elected mayor and City Council, and major population changes — particularly south of downtown — this year’s redistricting could significantly shift the city’s political boundaries.

An additional factor is that South Loop Ald. Robert Fioretti, 2nd, wants to challenge U.S. Census results that show Chicago lost about 200,000, or seven percent, of its residents between 2000 and 2010.

Fioretti said that he has the signatures of 44 aldermen to challenge the census figures. “I have talked to people at the Census Bureau and they say there was an undercount,” he said. “Whether the undercount is sufficient to have a recount, I don’t know.”

It’s up to Mayor-elect Rahm Emanuel if the city challenges the census, as Chicago cannot file a formal challenge until June, when Emanuel will be mayor. Emanuel has not said if he supports a challenge.

A challenge would further postpone a redistricting process already delayed by this year’s municipal election.

The City Council’s Committee on Committees, Rules and Ethics — currently chaired by Ald. Richard Mell (33rd) — runs the redistricting process. The committee is supposed to consider three factors in redistricting, the most important being that each ward have an almost identical population. The 2010 Census determined that Chicago has 2,695,000 people — which translates to about 54,000 residents per ward.

Second, wards are supposed to be as compact and contiguous as possible, meaning they should look like rectangles, not peninsulas. Third, the committee must draw boundaries to encourage minority representation on the council and follow the 1965 Voting Rights Act so that no minority group is discriminated against.

According to Simpson, however, redistricting is mainly “a closed-door process of alderman negotiating with one another with the threat of lawsuits.” Simpson claimed that aldermen will work with Mell and committee members to have their boundaries drawn so certain neighborhoods, even streets, are included while others are not.

In brokering ward boundaries, aldermen have in the past protected their racial constituencies – black aldermen want their wards stay majority black; white aldermen ensure their neighborhoods stay majority white.

The result is that the “one man, one vote” rule is roughly followed — but the compact and contiguous rule can be quickly abandoned.

“Remapping has created some very funny gerrymandered wards,” Simpson said.

The 2nd Ward is a typical example. The ward does include what Chicagoans recognize as the South Loop neighborhood, but it stretches in one fragmented part all the way to Sacramento and Maypole avenues in the Garfield Park neighborhood. The part of the municipal code that describes the 2nd Ward’s street boundaries is more than 1,300 words.

Remapping could radically alter these boundaries. According to an analysis of 2010 census figures by the consulting firm Rob Paral & Associates, the 2nd Ward now has 69,000 people — a 29 percent increase from 2000. Only the near North Side’s 42nd Ward has seen a bigger jump.

The change is largely due to a major increase in population of the Near South neighborhood, most of which is in the eastern half of the 2nd Ward. According to census figures, the area between Roosevelt Road and Cermak Road east of State Street saw its population increase by more than 200 percent.

In fact, the 2nd Ward’s population increase would have been much greater if not for a decrease in western and southern pockets.

In order to get back to that magic number of 54,000 residents, then, some parts of the spread-out 2nd Ward must be lopped off.

“[The 2nd Ward] could look nothing like it does now,” Paral said. “There will be more wards closer to the loop.”

Fioretti, who was elected alderman in 2007, declined to say how he might prefer to see the 2nd Ward reconfigured. “I enjoy representing all 18 different neighborhoods that we have,” he said. “We’ve made changes at all the ends of the ward, from Sacramento to 32nd Street.”

Meanwhile, the 3rd Ward — just south of the 2nd — is now the least populous ward in the city with 40,600 people, a 25 percent loss from 2000. A predominantly black ward that includes the Bronzeville neighborhood, some of the 3rd’s population loss can be attributed to the demolition of the Robert Taylor housing projects.

However, the overall population of the predominantly black ward declined. Census data shows that areas like State Street between 26th and 31st streets saw their population halved.

Like Fioretti, 3rd Ward Ald. Pat Dowell did not say how she would like the 3rd ward redrawn. Her spokesman, Kevin Lampe, said she was still looking at the data.

“Ald. Dowell is just starting to receive information on the new demographics and population numbers,” Lampe said.

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By Constance Reden from Roseland/WestPullman
Posted: 11/17/2011 2:23 PM

gatlhowlEven though Alderman Beale has a Walmart being contructed, my prolem is he does nothing for the residence living south of 115th Street. There is a food desert from 115th to the Calumet Sag. Most residents living in this area spend our money in Calumet Park with Ultra Foods. This is a large revenue loss for Chicago because city taxes are diverted elsewhere. It has been said he had 60 meetings concerning the utilization of TIF dollars. These have not been inclusive, but exclusive.

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By Near West Sider from University Village
Posted: 04/22/2011 11:36 AM

Here's hoping that University Village/Little Italy get redistricted into the 25th Ward. Especially Roosevelt Square.

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By Tired 9th Ward Resident from Roseland - 9th Ward
Posted: 04/22/2011 9:22 AM

I hope they start the redistrict with the 9th Ward. Alderman Beale does not really care about the citizens that live in his ward, its all about what people can do for him is only when he does for you. We complain to him about situations and they go unanswered not to mention we can't even get him to talk to the police about these cars with the loud music.

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By Current 2nd Warder from South Loop
Posted: 04/21/2011 4:51 PM

I just hope that after the remap I will have a real Alderman like Brendan Reilly (42nd) or Pat Dowell (3rd). Either are well known for keeping their commitments - something lacking in the current Alderman.

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By Sensible Plan? from South Loop
Posted: 04/21/2011 3:56 PM

Here is a novel thought, how about the Alderman just focus on boundaries that focus on tax payer value, improved city services, and lower cost of government instead of perpetuating a racist process. Cut 2nd Ward off at the Stevenson/I-55, give that 2nd ward part south of I-55 to Dowell, and give someone else part of West Ward. Having the Near South and South Loop cut off somewhere in the middle is the dumbest idea known to man.

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By John jacoby from Prairie
Posted: 04/21/2011 11:56 AM

I appreciate the Journal looking into this. It would be nice to get some transparency on the process of re-districting the ward boundaries. Given that the second ward is going to lose an area containing some 22% of its current residents you are looking at a significant change. Which area gets split up and into whose ward does it go? Why doesn't Mell schedule some hearings with the proposed map?