CLEVELAND (AP) -- The city of Cleveland is losing population,
and as a result its city council is going to shrink. The Plain
Dealer newspaper reported Monday that the 19-member city council
will lose two more seats in 2013 when the panel redraws the
wards. Since council maps were last drawn in 2009, Cleveland's
population has shrunk by more than 30,000 people to about
396,000, according to U.S. census figures. Most of that
population loss occurred in the city's northeast quadrant. But
council members say that the east side, home to several of the
city's predominantly black neighborhoods, will lose only one
ward in the redistricting. That will preserve council
representation for the black community. The council, which
redraws the lines every decade following the census, must do so
by April 1 or cede the authority to Mayor Frank Jackson, who
served on the council before his election as mayor. Cleveland
had 33 council members until 1981, when the charter was amended
by a popular vote, shrinking the council to 21