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comments on Comm. 67, Bill 18 re. redistricting <br /> by Cory Harden,PO Box 10265,Hilo, Occupied Hawaii 96721 mh @interpac.net 808 -968 -8965 <br /> for Hawai'i County Council, 9 AM Wednesday, February 16, 2011, Hilo <br /> 1 support changes in how we do redistricting, since the last effort was so contentious, but we need to act <br /> with care. <br /> The redistricting manual Ms. Ford used says "After the 1990 census 20 states had suits in state courts <br /> concerning redistricting plans; 28 states had suits in federal court. Eleven states had suits in both state <br /> and federal courts on the same plan. New York had cases in four different federal courts and three <br /> different state courts." [1, p. 33] We need to act with care to protect the County from costly, time - <br /> consuming, contentious lawsuits. <br /> Mr. Yoshimoto was concerned because Ms. Ford didn't read original court decisions when writing this bill, <br /> but used interpretations of court decisions from the manual. But 1 think that's okay, because it takes a <br /> legal background to understand court decisions; the author of the manual has excellent credentials as <br /> Senate Counsel for Minnesota; and 1 assume Corporation Counsel will review this bill. <br /> Two sections may need to be clarified. <br /> The first section in definitions (p. 2) says <br /> "Permanent resident... No person shall be deemed to have gained or lost a residence simply <br /> because of a person's presence or absence in compliance with military or naval orders of the <br /> United States, or while engaged in aviation or navigation, or while a student in any institution of <br /> learning." <br /> The meaning of `you don't gain or lose because of presence or absence" is difficult to <br /> understand. <br /> The second section, p. 3 item (2) says <br /> "Nonresident military personnel, nonresident military dependents, nonresident students... shall be <br /> excluded from the permanent, resident population base..." <br /> This may contradict the first section. <br /> Mahalo for your work on this important bill. <br /> [1] "How to Draw Redistricting Plans That Will Stand Up in Court, "by Peter S Wattson, Senate Counsel, <br /> Minnesota <br />