DiCicco-Kenney map poised to pass Council

Although he cautioned that the process was still "fluid," Councilman Frank DiCicco said his colleagues are likely to pass the redistricting map, co-sponsored with Councilman James Kenney, on Thursday, disregarding a competing plan drawn up by an ad hoc committee that included Council President Anna C. Verna.

The biggest difference between the two maps is how they handle Northeast Philadelphia's 56th Ward. Councilman Brian O'Neill had been trying to limit how much of the ward he had to absorb into his Tenth District. As the only Republican representing a district, O'Neill wanted to avoid taking on too many of the ward's stringent Democratic voters.

The Verna map carves up the 56th Ward with the Sixth District, while the DiCicco map puts the entire ward in O'Neill's district. O'Neill also sat on the five-member committee that drew up the map dividing the 56th Ward. He was supported in his efforts by Majority Leader Marian Tasco.

DiCicco said there could be some minor amendments to his map regarding the 11th Ward, which lies mostly in Councilwoman Donna Reed Miller's Eighth District. A handful of divisions in the DiCicco plan are placed in Councilman Darrell Clarke's Fifth District. Miller is trying to get him to relinquish those divisions back to the Eighth District.

If the swap is agreed upon, DiCicco said the bill would be amended on the floor during Thursday's Council meeting and the redistricting plan passed that day.

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