End gerrymandering, Indianapolis City-County Council tells state lawmakers

Indianapolis council members are calling on state lawmakers to change the way districts are drawn for elected officials.

The City-County Council on Monday passed a special resolution urging the state General Assembly to create a nonpartisan system for drawing maps. Zach Adamson, the Democratic vice president of the council, sponsored the resolution.

"There's a cancer that eats at our democracy and at the core of our sickness is the gerrymandered districts," Adamson said, using a popular term for oddly shaped districts that are drawn to favor incumbents and the parties that draft them.

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Adamson's resolution passed, 15-10, on a rare party-line vote for Democratic-majority council. Democrat Joe Simpson joined Republicans in opposing the resolution and Republicans Colleen Fanning and Jeff Miller supported it.

Adamson argued that gerrymandering enabled dozens of Indiana lawmakers to run unopposed during the last election cycle. His resolution calls for a citizen-led commission that would draw maps without taking into account what the results would mean for political parties or elected officials.

The council's symbolic vote is unlikely to have much influence on the Republican-controlled state legislature, which draws the districts.

Indiana state Rep. Jerry Torr, R-Carmel, has pushed for nonpartisan redistricting, but it has not gained traction.

Blake Johnson, a Democratic councilor who represents an east-side district, said the council's vote was about building momentum toward redistricting.

"Tonight's not about changing the law," Johnson said. "We don't have the power to do that. But it is about speaking with one voice and saying, very clearly, we think political gerrymandering is corrupt."

But Republican minority leader Michael McQuillen noted the U.S. Supreme Court is considering a case that could impact how redistricting is handled, and the state constitution stipulates that the General Assembly must approve the district maps.

In a council chamber packed with supporters for redistricting reform, McQuillen warned that his comments "won't be followed by a round of applause." McQuillen said it "seems unwise to me to make a political decision tonight and a feel-good vote."

Johnson, though, argued that the council's vote would put pressure on state lawmakers.

"Whether it becomes law or not, we need to send a message to our politicians that we are watching," Johnson said.

Call IndyStar reporter James Briggs at (317) 444-6307. Follow him on Twitter: @JamesEBriggs.