FLORIDA STATE REDISTRICTING HEARING IN KEY WEST
The Legislative Committee on Redistricting will be holding a hearing for public input in Key West on Thursday, August 18 from 4:00 until 7:00 PM at Florida Keys Community College, 5901 College Rd., Key West, FL 33040. It is very important that Legislators recognize that we, the citizens, are watching them and demanding fair implementation of the Redistricting Amendments 5 and 6 that were passed by 63% of the voters in the 2010 elections.
Please join us and help get that message across at our only Key West hearing on August 18th!
About Redistricting
Every 10 years after U.S. Census data is compiled, Legislative and Congressional districts are redrawn. Population growth or loss determines if a state will get additional House seats. Because of growth, Florida will get an additional two congressmen to add to the current 25 for the state. The state's population is hovering at 18 million.
The required redistricting will also make an important difference in the boundaries for rthe election of our State legislators as well. This will make a huge difference on who will end up governing in Florida. Right now the gerrymandered districts strongly favor the Republicans!
The redistricting process can be a contentious one. It may be even more so this time around. Using petitions, Florida voters put Amendments 5 and 6 on the 2010 ballot. Those amendments dealt with standards to follow in legislative and congressional redistricting and are supposed to ensure "fair" districts that don't favor any one party or incumbent.
The Florida Legislature came up with Amendment 7 that would have wiped out Amendments 5 and 6 even if they passed. That was tossed out by a judge and didn't make it onto the ballot.
This Committee won't have specific plans for how the maps should be drawn up, but we need to tell these legislators to accept the will of the people. Right now the legislature is involved in a lawsuit in an attempt to cancel the effect of the amendments, and we taxpayers are footing the bill.
To learn more about these legislative shenanigans please watch this video from the Orlando Sentinal:
Here is the Link: http://www.orlandosentinel.com/videobeta/fdd7c51c-e377-4f2d-8bb6-e3dd40d128e8/News/Malarkey-Meter-Fair-districts-fiasco
For more indepth information on the Fair Districts effort please visit: http://www.fairdistrictsnow.org/home/
Official Invitation
THE FLORIDA SENATE
COMMITTEE ON REAPPORTIONMENT
103 Senate Office Building
404 South Monroe Street
Tallahassee, Florida 32399-1100
(850) 487-5855
Senator Don Gaetz, Chair
Senator Gwen Margolis, Vice Chair
Professional Staff: John Guthrie, Staff Director
Senate’s Website: www.flsenate.gov
Memorandum
To: Democratic Executive Committee, Monroe County
From: Senator Don Gaetz, Chair, Senate Committee on Reapportionment
Subject: Public Hearings About Redistricting
Date: July 29, 2011
The decennial process of drawing congressional, State Senate, and State House districts is underway. Our first step is listening to voters and constituents.
House Redistricting Chairman Will Weatherford and I have scheduled 26 public hearings at locations throughout the state. So far we have visited 14 cities while crisscrossing the state from Pensacola to Jacksonville to Orlando, and have heard a lot of good testimony.
We will be in Key West on Thursday, August 18 from 4:00 until 7:00 PM at Florida Keys Community College (5901 College Rd., Key West, FL 33040).
Please plan on attending this hearing, and help spread the word to others.
Visit our website (www.flsenate.gov/Redistricting) for a list of all the public hearings and links to RSVP forms. Reservations are not required, but they will help us be prepared to seat everyone who attends and to hear from everyone who wishes to speak.
Our About Redistricting page describes the redistricting process and schedule, and it lists topics about which we particularly want to hear citizen input.
Creating and submitting a redistricting plan is one of the best ways to show what works for your community. All you need is a computer with a high-speed Internet connection and an email address to use the same tools used by Senators, Representatives, and professional staff. Visit our District Builder page to learn more about how you can create and submit your own district maps. The Florida House of Representatives has a similar web application called MyDistrictBuilder. Choose the tool that works best for you.
In order for your plan to be ready for display at the public hearing, please use the “Submit Plan” feature in District Builder to submit it 48 hours in advance.
If you have any questions, please call the Senate Reapportionment Committee at (850) 487-5855. We look forward to hearing from you. Your input will help us draw new districts that comply with federal and state laws and that make sense for citizens and communities in South Florida. The Senate (www.flsenate.gov/redistricting) and House (www.floridaredistricting.org) websites will be updated frequently with the latest information, schedules, records, maps, and plans, so check back often.