Council advances ward map that would split West Laramie
The map will decide city council wards. Supporters of the new map argued that it would increase representation for West Laramie residents, while detractors said it would ’crack’ the neighborhood.
The Laramie City Council has advanced a new political map for the city, replacing the map it passed on first reading last week.
The new map divides the city into roughly east, northwest and southwest wards, splitting the western part of town along an east-west axis.
On first reading, the council had passed a different map that kept the west half of Laramie together – including the downtown area, the west side neighborhood, all of West Laramie and part of the tree neighborhood south of Grand Avenue.
But Councilor Andi Summerville proposed an amendment to swap out that earlier map with the new one. The amendment, and therefore the swap, was approved on a 5-4 vote. As the only councilor who lives west of tracks, Summerville argued that splitting West Laramie would give the area more representation, and tie neighborhoods there to others east of the tracks.
“My intention is really, at the end of the day, to knock down the idea that there’s a west section of the city,” Summerville said.
West Laramie was annexed by the city in the 1960s, long after Laramie’s own incorporation. As a result of this late inclusion, far fewer roads in the area are paved.
Mayor Paul Weaver said current councilors, wherever they live, seem to have no problem supporting paving projects for West Laramie.
“One of the things we wrestle with is the history of the annexation of West Laramie,” he said. “What we deal with today is a desire on the part of the residents out there to be fully integrated into Laramie in a way that doesn’t create this boundary and say, well that’s West Laramie.”
In fact, he said, councilors and the public should not view West Laramie as a separate, discrete entity with unified interests.
“I would urge the council to resist this idea that this neighborhood needs any special consideration over any other, with the exception that it’s farther behind on infrastructure,” Weaver said. “There’s not a singular attitude about how they should be represented, or the direction of that neighborhood. The big population chunk out in West Laramie doesn’t appreciate being singled out as a particular neighborhood with a particular type of character or population. Nor do they think of themselves that way.”
But Councilor Brian Harrington pushed back on this idea, admitting that West Laramie is not a monolith, but arguing that its residents could have specific hyperlocal interests.
Harrington added there are very real boundaries between West Laramie and the core of the city.
“While I share that hope that West Laramie would just be Laramie, some things are hard to change,” he said. “Having a railroad that isn’t passable except for at two points and a river and an interstate does make a pretty defined line.”
Splitting West Laramie, as the map approved Tuesday does, means that six city councilors would have West Laramie residents within their wards. Summerville had argued that this would mean six of the nine councilors would have to pay attention to the needs of West Laramie residents because all six would have West Laramie residents as constituents.
But Harrington said it could have the opposite effect, “cracking” the West Laramie community and dividing its population between two wards that are majority non-West Laramie residents. So, in theory, a council candidate in either of those wards could ignore the needs of West Laramie residents and still gain enough votes east of the tracks to secure their seat.
“What we’ll do is split West Laramie into smaller groups of people who have less say in who their council representatives are,” Harrington said. “And I can see the point of having six representatives representing West Laramie, six people who have to talk about paving roads. But I also think, on the other end of that, you will have six council members who can have the votes required to get elected without talking about those things.”
Councilor Erin O’Doherty was also opposed to the map change. Given where local House district lines will probably fall, the old map approved last week would create six precincts — or just six unique ballot configurations. The new map, on the other hand, follows the House district lines less faithfully and creates nine precincts.
Wyoming’s redistricting process is nearing an end, but it’s still ongoing. The map produced by the State Legislature still needs Gov. Mark Gordon’s signature.
O’Doherty voted against Summerville’s amendment, but did ultimately vote to approve the new map. O’Doherty said both maps make efforts to keep the wards roughly equal, even into the next decade, as uncertain and unpredictable changes occur to the layout of the city.
“All of the proposals keep the present dorm location and the future UW dorm location in the same ward, so that if that does change within the next five years, we’re not going to get way out of balance,” O’Doherty said. “The one census block that has the dorms is 1,600 people.”
The motion, now bearing the new map, passed second reading on a 7-2 vote, with just Councilors Harrington and Pat Gabriel voting against. The map will return for a third and final vote Tuesday.