RES 334 Draft 01 2008-2010 - Laserfiche WebLink

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WHEREAS, material proposed for deletion is bracketed and stricken through, and material proposed for addition is underscored; and WHEREAS, differences between Charter Proposal CA -17 and the alternative amendment provided herein are indicated by bolded font, except for the title of section 3 -17; and WHEREAS, the provision in Charter Proposal CA -17 providing for appointment of the 2011 redistricting commission is retained, to read as follows: "Section 2. The provision of appointing the members of the redistricting commission by July 1 of the year immediately preceding the redistricting year shall not apply to the 2011 redistricting commission. The 2011 redistricting commission shall be appointed in the manner of Section 3 -17(d) of the 2008 edition of the charter. "; and WHEREAS, the council proposes the alternative amendment for the following reasons: The most egregious errors committed by the previous Reapportionment Commission need to be clarified with certainty in this charter amendment. 2. Criteria 1: The 2001 reapportionment favored every single incumbent. This is statistically impossible unless there was a calculated effort to do so. Additionally, numerous U.S. Supreme Court rulings consistently state that racial motivations in redistricting shall not be allowed. 3. Criteria 2: It is technically possible with existing computer software to make council districts as compact as possible and contiguous. The word "shall" needs to be included, not "should" which may be interpreted as allowing desirability rather than a duty. 4. Criteria 4: It is important to state the word "permanent" as part of the criteria. We have over a million tourists per year — most in West Hawai`i. They should not be included as residents even though they reside here during the census. Also, the Pohakuloa Training Area will be increasing the number of military personnel. This base is in North Hawaii. Military personnel are not considered residents of this County unless they vote in this County rather than their district of origin where they enlisted. 5. Criteria 5: Past U.S. Supreme Court rulings have established that 10 percent is the outside range for total deviation. The Redistricting Commission shall abide by that precedence, and it should be part of the required criteria. 6. Criteria 6: To keep council districts as equal as possible, plus or minus five percent is the outside range for district deviations. The Redistricting Commission shall abide by that precedence, and it should be part of the required criteria. Using plus or minus 4.99% of an ideal council district's population ensures that the Redistricting Commission treats each district equally and fairly, rather than having one district with a nine percent deviation and the other eight districts with a 0.1% deviation. It also ensures that each person's vote is as equal as possible. 7. Criteria 7: To guard against inflating a council district's population with 3