Council Opposes Redistricting Plan

The recent Congressional redistricting plan proposed by Mass. House Speaker Thomas M. Finneran met unanimous opposition from Cambridge’s City Council at its meeting Monday night.

Finneran’s plan would move Cambridge from the Eighth Congressional District, currently represented by Democrat Michael E. Capuano, to the Fourth Congressional District, currently represented by Democrat Barney Frank ’61.

Several councilors said that they were displeased by the proposed move because it would remove Cambridge from a district made up of several other urban communities and instead place it together with many suburban communities.

Currently Cambridge is grouped with Somerville, Chelsea and part of Boston. Under the new plan, Cambridge would instead be grouped with many of Boston’s western suburbs, including Newton, Waltham and Acton.

Councillors worried that many of the suburban communities would not share the same concerns as Cambridge, such as providing more affordable housing or improving urban public schools, and thus Cambridge would be unable to have these issues addressed in Washington. They noted that Capuano has done a good job addressing these issues since he began representing the district in 1999.

Capuano yesterday expressed his support for Cambridge’s action.

“I enjoy representing Cambridge and would be disappointed to see it removed from the 8th district,” Capuano said in a statement issued yesterday. “I certainly appreciate the City Council’s efforts to keep Cambridge in the 8th and thank them for the vote of confidence.”

Several councillors noted at their Monday meeting that their opposition to the shift had nothing to do with the individuals who represent the districts. Both Capuano and Frank have liberal voting records.

Redistricting is required to take place every ten years to address population shifts within a state since the last census.

Finneran’s proposed redistricting has yet to be voted on by the full House. The state Senate will design its own plan over the next several months, which will have to be reconciled with the House plan. The redistricting will take effect with the election held in Nov. 2002.

—Staff writer Daniel P. Mosteller can be reached at dmostell@fas.harvard.edu.