With municipal elections in the rearview mirror and a potential end-of-the-year deadline approaching, Boston city councillors this week plunged into the process of redrawing the boundaries of the municipality’s nine council districts.

In order to account for population growth within Boston’s downtown and northernmost neighborhoods, the new districts have to be redrawn with populations comprising between 65,000 and 72,052 residents. Dorchester’s District 3 needs to pick up 7,700 people, while Mattapan needs 6,400. Hyde Park, West Roxbury, and Roslindale also have to add residents.

On Monday, councillors decided they will hold weekly meetings to evaluate redistricting proposals in the hopes of coming to a consensus map. Redistricting occurs every ten years, after shifts in population and demographics are detailed by the US Census. The changes would go into effect before the 2013 city elections.

City Councillor Bill Linehan, whose District 2 has to lose residents, released a proposal last week that would remove three precincts from his district, two of which voted heavily in favor of his opponent on Nov. 8, and move the southern boundary of District 8 north of Councillor Michael Ross’s current address. That map would leave Ross living in Councillor Matt O’Malley’s district, and force Ross, who moved into Mission Hill four years ago, to either give up his seat or move again.

Linehan’s draft map quickly drew an outcry from activists who said it divided Chinatown. Ward 5 Precinct 1, which voted for Linehan’s opponent, Suzanne Lee, by a 713-172 margin in the November election, would be flipped into District 8. Linehan won the election by 87 votes, and in a recount requested by Lee, added 10 more votes.

Dorchester’s District 3 would pick up Precincts 9 and 10 in Ward 7, Precinct 5 in Ward 13, and Precinct 11 in Ward 17 in Linehan’s configuration.

Linehan defended his map, calling it preliminary. Whatever map ends up passing the City Council, he said, somebody is going to be uncomfortable with it.

Mayor Thomas Menino was among the critics of Linehan’s draft map, telling the Boston Globe that it was “gerrymandering at its best.” When Menino’s comments were mentioned during the Monday meeting of the Council’s redistricting committee, Linehan quipped, “I wouldn’t tell you what my first quote was.”

Asked about the mayor’s comments after the meeting, Linehan said, “This is a City Council exercise.” He added that Menino, whose sign-off is needed on a final map, can testify before the committee.

The Monday meeting saw the introduction of two identical proposals from Ross and O’Malley in response to Linehan’s map. Ross and O’Malley said they did not consult one another when drafting their respective outlines. Calling his proposal “more scalpel than meat cleaver,” Ross said he’s heard from Mission Hill residents who don’t want to be removed from District 8.

The Ross and O’Malley maps keep Ward 5 Precinct 1 in District 2, while Linehan would lose some of the South End and all of the Polish Triangle in Dorchester. Districts 5 and 9, represented by Councillors Rob Consalvo and Mark Ciommo, would be unaffected.

District 4 City Councilor Charles Yancey raised concerns with the three proposals for failing to incorporate three precincts on the northern tip of Mattapan that were shifted into District 7 during the last round of redistricting. Mattapan is currently carved up between Districts 3, 4, 5, and 7.

“Ten years ago, three precincts were pulled out of District 4,” Yancey said. “This fracture divided a very strong community. We have to reunite Mattapan and this map doesn’t accomplish that at all.”

Yancey said he also hoped to see a map that increases the number of majority-minority council districts to five from four.

While Linehan hopes to have a completed proposal by the end of the year and City Council President Stephen Murphy has indicated there could be a vote at the end of the year, District 7 Councillor Tito Jackson, saying the recent election forced him and other councilors to divide their attention between redistricting and their campaigns, urged a more measured pace.

“Now that we’re all on the same page, I would really like more of a robust conversation. There are few things we do on the electoral side that are going to impact people’s lives for the next ten years,” Jackson said. “Let’s take a long, hard look at this before we move forward.”

Linehan responded by saying he did not intend to “drag this out for people who did not prioritize this issue over other responsibilities.”

Linehan also added that in light of Maureen Feeney’s recent resignation from the council, he has reached out to District 3 Councillor-Elect Frank Baker for input on the process. But any proposal Baker makes will be as a private citizen since he won’t be sworn in until the start of the new year.