Every new decade, we are forced by various constitutions (federal and state), court decisions, legal frameworks, local charters, and other socio-economic-cultural-political precedents, to do a census count. This is essentially a precursor to reapportioning lines for legislative (and election/EDs) districts: on all levels of government (federal/state/local). You can say that it’s a tradition now.

Let me qualify that census counts are not used only for redistricting/reapportionment. It has become a tremendous tool/weapon in the arsenal of politicians, planners, pusillanimous-people, programmers, prostitutes, pimps, prognosticators, priests, policy-makers and the like.

You can also say that traditionally there are fights (expectedly) around issues dealing with redistricting/reapportionment. It can be rather contentious. It can be mind-boggling. The lengths that individuals in both the republican and democratic parties go to maintain power is something worthy of intellectual examination and meticulous scrutiny. The hope being (of course), that the more we study this as a phenomenon, the better the chances that we will eventually get to do it right.  read more »

REDISTRICTING HEARINGS:

Wed. Feb. 1
10:30 AM
St. Francis College
Founders Hall Auditorium
180 Remsen St.
Brooklyn

Every 10 years there is a census and after every census the entire country goes through the push and shove of redistricting. Each party tries to get an advantage for the next 10 years. That is normal...but the degree to which they go can vary from reasonable to so convoluted that it once created a whole new term: Gerrymandering. Gerrymandering is creating a district that goes so far out of its way that it looks ridiculous to any rational person.

These days reform minded folks, mainly Democrats, are pushing for independent redistricting, while Republicans are doing their utmost to consolidate power by gerrymandering every chance they can. I touched on this back in 2007 when Assemblyman Michael Gianaris came to a local political club meeting to discuss non-partisan redistricting. Gianaris pointed out overzealous gerrymandering by Republican Tom DeLay in Texas got him admonished by the House Ethics Committee. Assemblyman Gianaris put it well: let's focus on doing it fairly and getting it right, leading to more competitive races. That's why I am a Democrat, we think like that more often than Republicans seem to. Too bad Democrats don't ACT on it more.

Well that was back in 2007 and now that the census has happened and we are faced with an actual redistricting battle, it is time to doing it fairly and getting it right. But the Republicans in the State Senate have proposed an old school gerrymandering as an attempt to give themselves more power. My State Senator, Velmanete Montgomery, discussed this at a recent CBID meeting and brought in the proposed maps for the Brooklyn senate districts.

The proposed maps include some really strangely shaped districts. The one I will be in (SD20) would be composed of one pretty large area in Prospect Heights and further East. Then it has a small blob South of Greenwood Cemetery. Connecting them is a very strange arm that is about a block wide for most of its length. I happen to be in that strange arm, right about the elbow. When you see a district with a random long arm one block wide connecting two blobs, you KNOW the district is a textbook example of gerrymandering. SD22 is also very strange, consisting of 3 blobs connected by two narrow arms. The details don't matter. The key thing is the Republicans are behaving in a typical greedy manner while most Democrats I know are pushing for independent, non-partisan redistricting.

For all those Russians considering voting for Teabagger Republican Storobin against Lew Fidler, keep in mind that the Republican redistricting plan completely screws over the Russian voters. Why would Russians vote for a Republican now that it is clear Republicans don't give a rat's ass for them? In fact the Republicans seemed to have deliberately gerrymandered to limit the Russian vote. Strange.

But it isn't just Russian voters who are getting screwed by the Republican scheme, though they are one of the worst examples. All of NYC is getting screwed because Republicans are proposing districts that squeeze more people per district into NYC districts than in upstate districts, which is blatantly unfair because each and every district is supposed to represent roughly the same number of people. That's why we do it after each census! To divide the districts unfairly completely negates the purpose of linking the redistricting to the census.

This population deviation even makes the Republican Gerrymandering Scheme legally dubious. For state legislative districts, it is considered constitutionally dubious if the largest and smallest districts are more than ten percent apart. The Republican scheme pretty much reaches that limit and so puts NY State on shaky constitutional grounds. Many reform groups advocate ideally for no more than 6 percent apart, a standard some states (e.g. Montana) and Colorado even sets the standard more stringently (5 points). There are legal justifications for greater variance, most specifically in order to comply with the Voting Rights Act. But maintaining partisan control over a state legislature is NOT a legally justifiable reason to deviate from equal and fair districts.  read more »

Seems like the Republican National Committee is disguising a fundraising letter as a Census form! I got this email from Congressman Loebsack of Iowa:

I was very disappointed when I heard from concerned citizens in the 2nd District that Michael Steele, Chairman of the Republican National Committee, has sent a fundraising appeal into our district that looks like an official Census document. This fundraising letter even calls itself a 'Census survey' and asks people to pay for the cost of processing the census form.

The Census is vital for our communities because an accurate count helps ensure that Iowans get adequate funding for schools, roads, and hospitals. It is also critical for flood recovery, and helping our disaster stricken neighbors.

Please look for your official Census in the mail over the next few months. It will not ask for party affiliation or for money.

That the RNC would target our district shows just how determined they are to take back the House. Please stay vigilant and please be in contact if you see any further attempts to mislead our community: info_at_loebsackforcongress.org.  read more »