As many of you may know, the Harford County Democratic Central Committee filed suit to prohibit the Republican-led County Council from accepting any recommendations received from the all-Republican Redistricting Commission appointed to re-draw the Councilmatic districts in Harford County.   Republicans relied on an outdated section of the County Charter to stop any Democrats from participating in this important process.   This Charter provision should have been changed when Harford County began electing council members by individual districts, and electing only the Council President countywide.  The Charter was never looked at, or changed, because the County Council at that time did not have a Charter Review Board as required by the County Charter.  No County Council since has ever addressed this issue up to the time of our filing suit.  It is our position that 43% of the citizens of Harford County were ignored in the redistricting process as a result of the lack of diligence of the Republican-led council.

            Last month the case was heard in Harford County Circuit Court by retired Baltimore County Judge John F. Fader.   While we did not prevail on the injunction request, this suit has forced the County Council to finally comply with its own Charter.    It is important to realize the judge did not disagree with us.   He said we had important issues that needed to be resolved and that we need a new law.   The Central Committee considered whether to file an appeal, and we have decided against it.

            It took five months from the time the Central Committee filed suit until the case as heard in court.  At that point, filing an appeal would significantly slow down the redistricting process and the Central Committee did not feel that would be in the best interest of the citizens of Harford County.  In addition, the Redistricting Commission had already been meeting during this time and was in the final stages of deliberations.  I attended several of their meetings, and I believe the Redistricting Commission had been fair and non-partisan in its consideration of such factors as school districts, community likeness, locations of fire and other emergency resources, and the like.

            Most importantly, the County Council finally realized it was not acting in accordance with the County Charter by not having a Charter Review Board in place.  Had such a board been in place at the time of the change to the in-district election of county council members, this issue would have never arisen and suit would not have been necessary.

            The Central Committee is proud of the fact that our suit challenged the County Council and they have now selected citizens to serve on a Charter Review Board.  We anticipate that the language at issue in the redistricting case will be changed to reflect in-district elections.  You can be sure that the Central Committee intends to keep a close eye on the work of the Charter Review Board as they perform their task of reviewing the County Charter to insure it is consistent with our elections.

            The Central Committee is committed to promoting the Democratic Party in Harford County.  But we need your help.  Please join us in this effort.  We have much to do to get Harford County back on the right track, and you are always welcome.  There are several Democratic clubs working with us and your participation is needed.   If you would like to get involved in any way, please contact me at 410-913-722 or wlsawyer@comcast.net.

Wendy Sawyer, Chair

Harford County Democratic Central Committee

 To see past chair reports, click here