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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCommunication 12.2 Questions and Answers from Brenda Ford Redistricting Commission April 25, 2011 Questions and Answers By Brenda Ford 1.Which criteria in the charter and the code are the most important? A:Each criterion is equally important and was determined by the U.S. Supreme Court. All criteria are valid and need to be considered in their totality as you each design your plans and in your discussions. 2.When do you start the final report? A:It is safest to compile an ongoing draft report as you progress through each meeting. You could choose one commissioner to compile the draft report as you continue or your commission secretary can keep track of this information. 3.What information can you put in the final report? A:Each time you vote on something, include that motion in your draft final report which you should have one of the commissioners or the commission secretary compile as each meeting progresses. Some items that you may want to include to start are: a. Enter each motion as it is made and the vote on that motion. b. Explain what training you received and when. c. Keep a list of questions asked and the date and answers to those questions when the answers are received. d. Those items required by the county code. 4.What mapping software is available to the commission? A:The State will purchase the “master” software and make that available to the counties at no charge. I recommend that the commission authorize the county clerk to inquire as to the price of a “sub-set” of the master software from the vendor with whom the state signs a contract for the master software. This “sub-set” could be purchased for each commissioner to use on their personal computer at home. Be sure to ask if the “sub-set” is compatible with different types of operating systems: MAC, Microsoft XP, etc. This sub-set software is usually reasonably priced (the one I used in 2001 cost $350). Using a sub-set by each commissioner allows each of you to draw your own plan and see the deviations in each district and the total deviation on the spreadsheet at the bottom of each map. COMM.12.2 The software will show you a entire island map in different colors for each district so you can see what each district’s “shape” is. Individual mapping will be much faster than asking the Office of Elections to create nine versions for you to discuss; however, you may use the Office of Elections to draw any version or the public computers. The Clerk can guide you on your budget for purchasing any items you may need. In lieu of obtaining a sub-set software package, the county will provide two public computers, one in each of the Office of Elections in Hilo and Kona, for you to use. Those computers are also available to the public to draw their maps. There may be some competition for those computers. You may want to discuss with the Clerk any rules for use of the public computers to reduce possible problems in multiple people trying to use the public computers simultaneously. Mr. Melrose also mentioned other GIS software that may be able to do the mapping and the deviation calculations. 5.Why do we need census maps? A:It takes approximately 75 census maps to show all of the census blocks and census tracts around the island. The maps can assist the commission is easily locating a particular census block so you can determine if that census block should be in district A or district B based on a community of common interest. The maps are approximately 3 feet square and can be purchased from the census bureau. Sub-set software can also be used to locate the census blocks. The Office of Elections can also locate the census block, but seeing its location on a map can be informational. You may also want to purchase the zip code maps; they were not helpful to me, but may be to the commission. For me, other types of maps from the census bureau were not helpful. 6.When does the Office of Elections need to describe in writing the official district boundaries of the final map? A:The Office of Elections would be wasting its time to begin describing in writing the district boundaries until the final map is determined by the commission. 7.When will you receive training on how to do redistricting legally? A:Mr. Udovic provided an excellent introduction to redistricting from the Revolutionary War forward in time. You may want to consider asking him to provide training from the manual, “How to Draw Redistricting Plans that Stand Up in Court.” A copy has been provided to you through the Clerk’s office. That manual is a goldmine of information, contains most of the U.S. Supreme Court case references to justify why each criterion is necessary. It was written by Peter S. Wattson, the former legal counsel to the Minnesota State Senate. He is a brilliant man, and his manual may save you a lot of time and frustration. He is now employed as legal counsel to the Governor of Minnesota. He is not available to train since the redistricting is going on in Minnesota, and he has severe work demands in his capacity as counsel to the Governor. Corporation Counsel is legally required to provide training for you. While you are waiting for the numbers to arrive, training would provide an advantage that will pay great dividends in the future. 8.How do we use our deputy corporation counsel most efficiently? A:Mr. Udovic is available for training on redistricting, ethics, and the Sunshine Law. He can answer questions about redistricting, and research legal issues, if necessary. He is not legally allowed to tell you where to draw district boundaries, but you may request that he interrupt and offer guidance if you start to do something that would not be allowed; such as, asking the county counsel to provide something for the commission. He can be granted great latitude to guide you on issues or criteria if you request that he do so. It would be better to ask him many questions rather than start the commission on a tangent that will take too much time. 9.Why should non-resident people not be included in the redistricting database? A:There are several groups of people that by county code should not be included in the redistricting numbers: non-resident military and their non-resident dependents, non-resident students, non-resident foreign nationals or aliens. The reason for the exclusion is that they are not permanent residents of the County of Hawai’i. The military personnel and their dependents are here under military orders. Their home state from which they enlisted is considered their permanent place of residence. They usually have no intention of permanently staying in Hawai’i. However, if they were to change their voter registration to the County of Hawai’i, then they become a resident here. However, the military may still consider them as residents of their home state. Non-resident students are either from another state or country. U.S. citizens from another state attending school here are still residents of their home state unless they change their voter registration. Students from other islands in Hawai’i are residents and do not pay out-of-state tuition. Non-resident foreign nationals or aliens have their permanent residency in another country. Remember that the census is based on every person that is here, but redistricting is based on permanent residents. Tourists are not considered permanent residents either. Most non-residents are self-declared on their census forms. If they don’t tell the truth on their census forms, there is no way for the commission to know that. Don’t worry about it. 10.If the State does not provide an extraction for non-resident students, how can we know in which census block each non-resident student lives? A: By a vote of the commission, you may ask your commission secretary to write to each college and university on the island and request a list of the number of non-resident students they had enrolled as of the date of the federal census was completed (e.g. April 1, 2010) with the following information: 1) the physical address of each non-resident student, 2) the mailing address of each non-resident student, and/or 3) the zip code of each non-resident student. The university or college does not need to supply the non-resident student’s name (privacy issues). The address will help in locating the correct census block in which to put that person. If the college or university refuses to supply any information, you have at least tried, and that shows a good faith effort on your part that should be considered by any judge if there is a lawsuit. If the state provides a non-resident student extraction, but does not provide the census block in which the student resides, you may have no choice but to use the address of the nearest university or college or even a single university or college as the census block to which to assign the students. (e.g. You could investigate how many students attend each college or university and prorate the number of students to each college, or your investigation could indicate that every student at a particular college is a non-resident.) Just document the event in your draft final plan and the reasons why you chose to do whatever it is that you decide. Ask yourself and each other, did we really make a good faith effort on this issue? Why or why not? 12.What are extraction numbers? A:The total population of residents will be provided by the State. In previous redistricting years, the State has provided an extraction to remove the non-resident military and their non-resident military dependents. The State also provided an extraction for non-resident students. The State reapportionment commission will make decisions on what they will include or exclude for the State’s purpose, but that answer may not be available for several months. In Hawai’i County, a decision was made by the Council to remove the non-residents for the purpose of redistricting. 12.Can the County Council provide the extraction numbers for the commission? A:No. The County Council as a body cannot assist you in obtaining information from the State or the Census Bureau. Additionally, it does not have access to those numbers. 13.Why is the State taking so long to negotiate a contract for software and delivering the population numbers to the county? A:I don’t know. This seems to happen each redistricting year. Sometimes the legislature does not fund adequately or in a timely manner for the State Office of Elections to negotiate a contract. The State must have master software before it can accept the downloads from the Census Bureau into the software and separate the population data to send to the respective counties. 14.How much did the lawsuit against the reapportionment commission cost the county? A:Mr. Udovic can obtain that information. It might interest the commission to know that there were actually two lawsuits filed against the 2001 reapportionment commission. One based on the lack of socio-economic considerations, and a second one on the absolute numbers. Both failed in district court. One lawsuit went to the Hawai’i State Supreme Court. In a split decision (3-2), the case was lost. You may wish to read the Findings of Facts and Conclusions of Law as well as the dissenting opinions. They have been supplied to the Clerk for you. The two cases cost the residents of Hawai’i County (out of their own pockets) about $90,000 to try to get a fair, equitable, and legal redistricting plan. However, all of this is history. Only this commission can change the future.