Support for 'Fifth' Detroit Council District Map in SW Detroit

DETROIT (WJBK) -- Detroiters weighed in Tuesday on carving the city into seven voting district that will elect the next city council. There are four maps to choose from, but a lot of Detroiters have said they are favoring a "fifth option".

A lot of people have said that fifth option is actually the best option because it's drawn based on Detroit's existing neighborhoods that are already working together. This map is quickly gaining a lot of support.

Detroit's City Council could look a lot different after the next election. Seven council members will be elected based on districts, voters will choose two at-large, and there are four maps on the table.

Council members, attorneys and staffers spent about a half hour explaining the strengths of the four options, but guess which one was the most popular among some Southwest Detroiters Tuesday night?

"It's my plea and strong recommendation that council considers option number five," one person said.

"I'm a lifelong resident of Southwest Detroit, and if I had to choose one, I would also go with number five," another stated.

"My choice would be option five," said yet another.

"How come it's not being presented? Because it's not part of the program?" one individual asked.

"Tonight we have four maps to show you. We can't show you the map from Data Driven Detroit," said City Council Member Andre Spivey.

"Just the fact that people are bringing this to the community meeting and saying this is what they want to do is really telling," said Vince Keenan with Publius.

Especially since option five isn't even part of the city's presentation. Detroit think tank Data Driven Detroit created the map, and Corktown resident Keenan knows why it's so popular.

"It was drawn around neighborhoods that are already working together, and it takes into account the way the city already functions and the work that people are doing in neighborhoods," he explained.

The other maps were drawn based on precinct lines, some putting Downtown Detroit in the same district as Southwest Detroit -- two communities with very different needs and concerns.

"What we'd like to see, and I think people are connecting with this idea, is that different voices from different areas of the city will make it to council table," Keenan said.

"You're in Southwest Detroit. You're in Corktown. And we're going to take this same meeting to Northwest Detroit, and they're going to want a totally different map," City Council President Pro Tem Gary Brown told us.

Brown said he and the council are hearing the community loud and clear and option number 5 will be considered, but the bigger question is will it be chosen?

"We're going to make this decision on February 16th, and we're going to make it based on what's in the best interest of the city at whole," Brown explained.

"They're the last at-large council and that this is a historic moment for them, maybe the most important moment in their careers in the sense that this decision could last for a hundred years," said Keen.

The city's legal department is looking at map five to make sure that it's perfectly legal.

Click here to take a look at all five maps.