Still concerned about losing political influence in Annapolis over the next decade under legislative district changes proposed by the governor, the Bowie City Council is trying to enlist the support of House Speaker Michael E. Busch in hopes of changing the governor’s mind.

The district maps, adjusted every 10 years based on U.S. Census data, determine the areas represented by senators and delegates in the Maryland General Assembly.

The governor’s map is set to take effect Feb. 24, halfway through the General Assembly session, and be in place through the 2014 and 2018 elections.

In the new map, some of Bowie’s 55,000 residents are within 23A and some in 23B, making Bowie what the City Council says may be the only municipality in Maryland where representation would be split among two groups of delegates.

An alternative map the Bowie City Council sent to Busch with a Jan. 23 letter would place all of Bowie in 23A, most of it north of Md. Route 214, and place the rest of the district in 23B, which would now stretch south past Upper Marlboro and west to Joint Base Andrews.

“In this way [using the council’s alternative map], the legislature could accomplish what the Redistricting Task Force and the governor both aimed to do with the redistricting proposal — that is, keep communities with common interests together in single districts or sub-districts,” wrote Bowie Mayor G. Frederick Robinson in the Jan. 23 letter to Busch.

Busch, a Democrat from Anne Arundel County, did not respond to a request for comment by press time.

City council members would prefer to do away with the two subdistricts in District 23, saying they were created in 2002 to facilitate the election of a black delegate in 23B, which has been accomplished with the election of Del. Marvin Holmes (D) of Kettering.

The council prefers the governor eliminate the subdistricts in District 23, enabling delegates to run at-large, which they believe would improve the chances that residents of Bowie would be elected as delegates.

In both the governor’s proposed map and in the city’s proposed alternative, black residents continue to outnumber white residents in both 23A and 23B, based on 2010 census data.

“Reuniting Bowie in one legislative district is of the greatest importance to the citizens of Bowie, many of whom have registered their opposition to the commission’s plan,” wrote former state delegate Joan Pitkin of Bowie, in a letter that accompanied the council’s letter to Busch.

Pitkin represented the city for 24 years in the General Assembly, losing her seat in 2002 when the subdistricts were created.

Former Bowie mayor Richard Padgett said he preferred the council’s first choice that would do away with the subdistricts and enable delegates to run at large.

But if that were not acceptable, he said he supports the council’s alternative map, which puts all of the city in 23A.

“At least the municipality itself is in one the subdistricts,” he said. “It leaves Bowie alone.”

“To view the governor’s proposed map, visit planning.maryland.gov/redistricting/2010/legiDist.shtml.

On the website is an interactive map that enables residents to type in an address to identify his or her district and also compare the governor’s proposed map to existing 2002 boundaries.

vterhune@gazette.net