From the office of Councilman Corey O’Connor
Pittsburgh residents elect their City Council members based on nine districts that are apportioned every 10 years in response to the United States census. That process is currently underway, with the City Council Reapportionment Advisory Committee using the 2020 census population data.
The reapportionment committee provides guidance to City Council on how to draw and apportion its legislative districts. While there are many state and federal laws that govern how legislative districts are drawn, the Pennsylvania State Legislature mandates four essential elements:
"Districts shall be composed of (1) compact and (2) contiguous territory as (3) nearly equal in population as practicable, (4) as officially and finally reported in the most recent federal census."
The committee strives to draft an equitable map of legislative districts that represents the people of the City of Pittsburgh. Its intent is to keep neighborhoods intact and in the same district wherever possible. The committee also tries to join neighborhoods that are currently split between two or more council districts into one, using the neighborhood boundaries as defined by the City Planning Department.
To ensure that community voices are heard, the reapportionment committee will host a series of public meetings across Pittsburgh to gather input from residents. Those meetings will happen in late March and April, with an official schedule of dates, times, and locations to be released soon. The committee will factor the results of these public meetings into its considerations and proposals to City Council.
Each City Council Member appoints one member of the reapportionment committee. The membership of the committee is: Schuyler Sheaffer, representing District 1; Jonathan Alexander, representing District 2; Robert Charland, representing District 3; Blake Plavchak, representing District 4; Matt Singer, representing District 5; Dan Wood (Committee Chair), representing District 6; James Murray, representing District 7; Emilie Yonan (Committee Vice Chair), representing District 8; and Shawn Carter, representing District 9.
Residents are welcome to submit their feedback and learn more about the redistricting process at https://engage.pittsburghpa.gov/city-council-rac.
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