The Joint Committee on Redistricting of the Massachusetts Legislature debuted its last two maps for Congress and Governor’s Council on Monday. The changes were minor if significant. In the 413, despite population losses both in real and relative terms, the shifts have a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it quality.
While the legislature lumbers through its own district maps for the next ten years, the same process is playing out on the municipal level. Wards and precincts are changing only slightly as Springfield’s population was largely stable.
With the much-delayed Census figures in hand, the Massachusetts legislature set to drawing new maps for the state House and Senate. On Tuesday, the Joint Committee on Redistricting released its drafts. The new lines are not wholly without controversy. The Committee will hear from the public Friday even as a constitutional deadline begins to bear down. In the 413, the process may have delivered as well as it could.
Bill Galvin has many titles: secretary of the commonwealth; election administrator; former state rep; prince of darkness. But during a trip to the 413 two weeks ago, he added another: soothsayer. Speaking at Court Square, Galvin praised Mayor Domenic Sarno, City Clerk Gladys Oyola and
Springfield bucked a local trend as its population grew a clip faster than much of the region. The Census Bureau released community-level data Thursday confirming the commonwealth’s growth principally happened in its east. Yet, the information still included some surprises. These both benefited and hurt Bay State localities reflecting both longer-term trends and how the coronavirus possibly warped results.