FEDERALSBURG, Md. - The Town of Federalsburg passed a few resolutions Monday night.
Pictured is what the two-district voting system might look like. The green district being predominately where white people live and the yellow district being predominately where people of color live.
One of those resolutions includes switching the towns at-large voting system to a two-district system. The two districts would include two council people from each district. The town has not had a black person on council in its 200 year history which has lead to the changes.
Since October, Federalsburg has had several discussions about proper representation on council and changing districts. The town passed three resolutions Monday night. The town manager believes the unanimous vote to pass their resolution on changing the voting system was due to the communities concern.
Town manager Lawrence DiRe says, "certainly, the goal was to recognize the concerns raised about one particular demographics' lack of representation on the town council. So on the elected board in the 200-year history town. So that was never a dispute that means that was always recognized."
However, some in town aren't yet breathing a sigh of relief just yet.
While community member Sherone Lewis agrees it's about time for proper representation, she is still holding her breath. She says, "I worry that even if we get a person of color on the town council, will their representation be valued as equal?"
Dr. Willie Woods says the NAACP will request more discussion with the town.
Woods says, "The two district system is one that the black residents of Federalsburg have been supportive of. There are other aspects of it that have not been."
With a pending lawsuit from the NAACP that the town is facing regarding voting districts, the town manager says the judge might decide differently on what the district map might look like or even how many districts.
The town attorney says the town anticipates holding an election in September for the mayor and two council members, with one council member elected from district 1 and one council member elected from district 2.