For the second time in a little more than year, the Mobile City Council approved new district lines for the seven council districts, following an annexation referendum this summer that brought in nearly 20,000 new residents to the city.

“I think we’ve earned our stripes during the last redistricting process,” Mobile Mayor Sandy Stimpson said. “We’ve followed the parameters that we had back then, so as the city councilmembers were able to see the specific district lines, which streets fell in and which streets fell out, I think they accepted that this is the best we can do.”

But unlike the last redistricting process, which lasted almost six months, this process largely unfolded without any controversy. The council passed the map unanimously and did not make any amendments to the map proposed by Stimpson’s administration.

Under the new map, which will not take effect until the next municipal elections in 2025, four of the seven council districts are majority-minority, a major priority the last time the maps were redrawn.

The total voting population in Council District 7 is 53.2% Black, and in council districts 1, 2 and 3, the voting population is over 60% Black. All of downtown Mobile and midtown Mobile are now represented by minority members of the council.