BUFFALO, N.Y. — The Buffalo Common Council postponed yet again its plans to vote on redistricting maps for the city, holding a meeting instead to discuss agenda items which did include reapportionment.

Much of that meeting was overshadowed by members and supporters of Our City Action Buffalo, who gathered on the steps of city hall in continued opposition to what they describe as geographical manipulation on the council’s part.

“No one needs to study these maps to understand that Buffalo is a textbook example of a gerrymandered city,” said Harper Bishop, Our City Action Buffalo interim director. “That legacy needs to stop now and we’re here to make sure that it does.”

Protesters followed through with their intent of disrupting the Common Council meeting, heading into city hall and up to the Common Council chamber. Once inside, the groups heard early comments from the council before making objections and breaking out in frustrated chants.

Demonstrators left with their point made loud and clear.

“This is just representative. These people are proxy of hundreds of thousands of people who have now joined the vote against the council members,” Bishop said. “As you just heard, a chant was yelled by, I would say over 80, almost 100 people, ‘vote them out.’ That is not in any way us bluffing.”

“I’m happy that the people stood up today," said Jalonda Hill, Colored Girls Bike Too founder. "It was revolutionary, I think it was revolutionary to see something like that happen. I think that’s what people power looks like.”

Not all attendees of the meeting agreed. One Buffalo resident found the disruption disrespectful and says neither the protesters nor their proposed map represent what communities with the most at stake really need.

“These are not our community members," said activist Katrinna Martin-Bordeaux. "They do not represent the interests and the will of the people. They do not know the city, the way they profess to know the city. Half of them didn’t know when they were in the Bryant neighborhood opposed to the Elmwood Village neighborhood until I told them a couple weeks ago, before they then pulled their maps together.”

Common Council President Darius Pridgen explained the reason the reapportionment item was sent back to legislation was so that the council could consider another map submitted during a public hearing.

“Any map that was going to be submitted other than the one that came from the commission would have had to be submitted to the seated commission first; that commission is no longer seated so there is no commission to send it to, in a nutshell,” Pridgen said.

He also said the council has been completely transparent with the public and that community input has been integral in the decision making.

“We listened. We went back. We went to those who could advise us to make sure that if we could consider another map, and that’s what we were informed of today, and as soon as we got that information we didn’t hide it," Pridgen said. "We took it to the beginning of the agenda to be able to say, ‘here, we want you to hear it.’”

While the Common Council heard an opinion at Tuesday’s meeting about the council commission’s proposed map, it has yet to make a decision.