Elkridge Residents Want Time to Weigh in on Redistricting

The plan to in Howard County may be up for a vote Monday night, a move the Greater Elkridge Community Association (GECA) opposes.

Every decade following the census, Howard County goes through the process of redrawing council district lines.

For the past year, redistricting has been in the works, with a commission appointed by the county executive to help balance out Howard County's population among five districts.

The Redistricting Commission presented a map with proposed districts in October. There was a  about the map in November. Last week, the council filed amendments to the proposed map that could be voted on at its Feb. 6 meeting.

"This action will not allow time for public input," wrote GECA President Howard Johnson in a letter to the council on Feb. 4.

He asked the council to postpone a vote until the public could weigh in on the proposed changes.

"The amendments added will move longtime District 1 areas along Montgomery Road into District 2. This includes Ducketts Lane, Hunt Club Road over to and including Millers Crossing then points north to Kerger Road," wrote Johnson to GECA members in an email on Sunday.

Johnson urged the Elkridge community to speak up for the neighborhoods' cohesion and for transparency in government.

"These amendments will split our neighborhoods to achieve changes in the west for other districts," wrote Johnson to GECA members. "We have to push to have an open process for these changes will affect us for the next 10 years."