In most cities, voters pick their city council members. But, in Jacksonville, council members also pick their voters.

It started when city planners presented the Reapportionment Committee with a proposal on how to redraw the city's council district and at-large boundaries - a process that takes place, by federal law, every 10 years.

As soon as it was presented, council members began meeting in small groups, "tweaking" the plan to add and subtract blocs of constituents.

Generally that meant getting Republican voters out of districts represented by Democrats and Democrats out of Republican districts. It also meant packing as many minority voters as possible in districts currently represented by a minority.

As a result, some districts have shapes that are less compact.

One district, for example, crosses both the Trout and St. Johns rivers as it meanders south from the Nassau County line to a point deep into south Jacksonville. It even plunges a narrow but long path into the middle of another district to pick up some minority and Democratic voters.

At a meeting Wednesday, Councilwoman Denise Lee announced she couldn't support the latest map because Whitehouse was in her district.  (as an add.........Denise Lee lives in White House, so come on Ms. Lee)