Chicago’s 19th Ward residents fight remap

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Updated: January 23, 2012 4:37AM

The red-and-white signs in yards and windows around Chicago’s 19th Ward have a simple, yet direct, message: “Don’t Re-Map Me.”

And at 6 p.m. Wednesday, ward residents are expected to share that sentiment at Morgan Park High School, 1744 W. Pryor Ave., when the Chicago City Council Rules Committee holds a public hearing about redrawing the ward’s boundaries.

Ald. Matt O’Shea (19th) said he has heard from at least 100 residents “who don’t want to leave the ward” and expects a large turnout.

Every 10 years, after the U.S. Census, ward boundaries are redrawn. The goal is to give each ward roughly the same number of residents, 53,912 each by the last census.

The 19th Ward has 52,647 residents in Beverly, Morgan Park and Mount Greenwood, but the neighboring 21st and 34th wards have 50,845 and 48,245, respectively. To get those two wards closer to the goal, some portions of the 19th Ward may be redrawn into the 21st or 34th wards, O’Shea said.

“I’ve seen a map drawn by the black caucus (on the city council) and there is still a movement to encroach on the 19th Ward’s eastern border. We’re under the number. I’m not looking to claim a part of another ward. We want to keep our ward intact,” O’Shea said Tuesday.

“We’ve got the best ward. The 19th is the only integrated community on the Southwest Side and has been for nearly 50 years. We have white, black and Hispanic families in the second and third generations,” O’Shea said.

Arthur Richards, president of the Vanderpoel Improvement Association on the 19th Ward’s east side, said his home’s property value, now $300,000, would plummet by “at least $100,000” if drawn into the lower-income 21st or 34th wards.

“We’re really proud of the 19th Ward. We like the services. It’s nice here. We all bought our property here because we want to live in the 19th Ward. We should be able to fight for this,” Richards said.

A staffer in the ward office of Ald. Dick Mell (33rd), who chairs the rules committee, said changes are inevitable for every ward.

Matt Walsh, executive director of the Beverly Area Planning Association, said redrawing the 19th Ward could wreak havoc on neighborhood associations and historic districts that would find themselves in two or three wards.