Former Baltimore City Mayor Bernard C. “Jack” Young is joining opponents of a plan to divvy up Baltimore County into nine council districts, saying it is gerrymandered.
Young is weighing in because he now lives in the county and he doesn’t like what the proposed plan would do to his neighborhood.
Young lives in Greenleigh which is in the same council district as Middle River, White Marsh and Perry Hall. A new redistricting map would slide Greenleigh into another district that includes Rosedale. Young said that’s to create a district in which a majority are people of color.
Young said, “We’ve got to get away from this, trying to create something because if you’re a good candidate, I don’t care if you’re Black, green or blue, you can win the election.”
In Baltimore County, Black council candidates have only won in the one Black majority district. The county is about 30 percent Black but there is only one African American on the seven member council. While nearly 50 percent of the county’s population is composed of people of color, six out of seven council seats are held by white men.
Young is asking the county council to reject the map proposed last week by a redistricting commission. The commission on a 4-3 vote proposed a map that creates two majority-Black districts on the west side of the county as well as two districts, one on the west side and the other on the east side, in which people of color make up the majority.
Young, who is Black, sent an email to all members of the county council, saying in a city council race he was able to win in a predominantly white district.
“I believe that compacting a district based on racial demographics is counterproductive to our goals,” Young told the council.
Baltimore County officials are trying to create a new map that will satisfy the Voting Rights Act and ensure people of color have a fair shot of getting elected while at the same time keeping as many communities together as possible.
At the redistricting commission’s final meeting on June 9, member Lisa Belcastro said she did not know why Greenleigh had become such a “place of contention.”
“I think this is a map that we can be proud of that strikes that balance of putting the Voting Rights Act at the forefront but also having that due regard for communities,” said Belcastro. “I know this map was made in good faith.”
Commission member Michelle Davis, who came up with the approved plan said, “We all had to give consideration to giving a little in order to get a little.”
She added, “There was no rhyme or reason for anything regarding Greenleigh or any other area for me except equity for all people.”
While Young is a Democrat, he said he also doesn’t want to lose his current councilman, David Marks, who is a Republican.
Marks and his two fellow Republicans on the council said they will not vote for the map currently on the table, calling it partisan. Since it will take five votes for the seven-member council to pass a map, Republican support is required.
"The fate of the Greenleigh community is central to a lot of my concerns," Marks said. "Greenleigh is part of Middle River. Students in Greenleigh attend Middle River schools. Greenleigh is serviced by Middle River Volunteer Fire Company."
The council has until October to approve a new map which will expand the number of council districts in the county from seven to nine for the 2026 election.
Young joined the Baltimore City Council in 1996 and was council president from 2010-2019. He became mayor on May 2, 2019 with the resignation of Catherine Pugh. Young was defeated by Brandon Scott in the 2020 mayoral Democratic primary.
Now that he is a Baltimore County resident, Young said, “I’m going to be actively involved, absolutely I will.”
