§ 3-103. Council Districts.

(1)

The City shall be divided into five Council Districts. Each District shall serve as the basis for electing a district councilmember. The five Districts shall be those existing on January 1, 1995, except as thereafter changed in accordance with the provisions of this Charter. The Council shall maintain maps and written descriptions of the Council districts for public review and inspection and shall make copies available, through sale or otherwise, to the public.

(2)

It shall be the mandatory duty of the Council to redistrict the City by ordinance, which shall not be subject to veto by the Mayor, within six months after the official publication by the United States of the population of the City by precinct as enumerated in each decennial census. Each council district shall contain as nearly as possible the population factor obtained by dividing by five the City's population as shown by the decennial census. At the expiration of the six month period, if the Council shall have failed to redistrict the City as herein required, the responsibility for redistricting shall pass to a Redistricting Commission, consisting of the presidents or chancellors or a person designated by the president or chancellor of Dillard University, Loyola University, Southern University of New Orleans, Tulane University, the University of New Orleans and Xavier University and a designee selected by each member of the Council. Each member of the Redistricting Commission shall be an elector of and domiciled in the City of New Orleans. The City Attorney shall notify the university presidents or chancellors and the members of the Council of the need for activation of the Redistricting Commission and shall request that they make appointments to the Commission within ten days. The City Attorney shall convene the first meeting of the Commission no sooner than fourteen nor later than twenty-one days following the delivery of notice to the university presidents or chancellors and the members of the Council. A majority of the members initially appointed shall constitute a quorum for purposes of the first meeting of the Commission, at which the members there assembled shall proceed forthwith to make, by majority vote, any appointments not theretofore designated by the appointing authorities. Thereafter, a quorum shall consist of a majority of all thirteen members of the Commission. No later than forty days following the City Attorney's notice to the university presidents or chancellors and the members of the Council, the Redistricting Commission shall, by majority vote, adopt a redistricting plan. The plan shall immediately be delivered to the Clerk of Council and shall become legally effective upon its receipt by the Council Clerk. Following the expiration of the six month period, the members of the Council shall not receive any further salaries until the Redistricting Commission shall have delivered such redistricting plan to the Clerk of Council, and the Director of Finance shall not issue checks for such salaries for said periods.