The all-male Baltimore County Council with only one Black member is being presented as “Exhibit A” as to why the structure of the body needs to change.
A workgroup is preparing to make recommendations to the council on whether the seven member County Council should be increased to nine or 11 members.
Since it would be the first such change since the county charter was established in 1956, one member of the workgroup, Sheila Lewis, called it a “once in a lifetime” opportunity.
At a recent public hearing, Crystal Francis, who is Black, a Democrat, and lost a 2022 Council race to Republican David Marks, told the workgroup the seven member council should be increased to 11. Francis said smaller districts and more seats would improve the odds for women and minorities.
“So that the makeup of the council is similar to the makeup of the population in terms of gender, ethnicity, and partisan affiliation,” Francis said.
Baltimore County is about 30 percent black. Minorities make up almost 50 percent of its population.
Read more (and listen) at WYPR.
