State reapportionment committee holds public hearing in Mobile

Congressional, school board districts to be redrawn next week

MOBILE, Ala. - MOBILE - Wednesday’s public hearing on reapportionment, one of six held throughout the state this month, drew a scant audience and only a handful of speakers. Some complained that location of the meetings and lack of information available excluded those who are most likely to be effected by reapportionment, which requires the state to redraw congressional, legislative and school board districts to comply with the one person, one vote requirement of the state constitution each decade when new census date is released.

Congressional (pictured) and school board districts in Alabama will be redrawn next week during a meeting of the Permanent Legislative Committee on Reapportionment in Montgomery. According to the most recent census data: District 1 must lose 5,022 people, District 2 must gain 8,942, District 3 must gain 1,521, District 4 must gain 22,657, District 5 must lose 35,905, District 6 must lose 71,663, and District 7 must gain 79,467 people.

Pat Siano, a retired math teacher from Foley, told the three-member legislative panel that “to hold public hearings just to say you did is not adequate.” Siano complained about the lack of minority representation in the reapportionment process, which because of the location of the meetings “keeps people in dark.”

“I’d like to offer my opinion on reapportionment but you’re not giving us any facts,” Siano told the panel.

Indeed, attendees arrived at the meeting to find nothing except a map of current congressional and school board districts and a chart of 2010 census numbers.

Of the other 11 people who spoke, most urged the panel to leave District 1 as it is.

Former congressman Jack Edwards said he appreciated the “compactness” of congressional District 1, which contains all of Baldwin, Mobile, Escambia, Washington and Monroe counties and part of Clarke County.

There are seven congressional districts in the state of Alabama, and according to the most recent census date, each should have an “ideal population” of 682,819. District 1 will likely have to be redrawn because neighboring District 7 needs 79,467 people to meet ideal population guidelines, while neighboring District 2, which includes all of Southeast Alabama, needs 8,942 people. District 1 exceeds the ideal population guideline by 5,022 people.

State Rep. Joseph Mitchell of Mobile, complained about the amount of “gerrymandering” during reapportionment.

“We have to make sure this is a fair process,” Mitchell said. “Some districts are already drawn in a way that is indicative of racial or socioeconomic influence. They are some big gaps to fill and a lot of people are going to be affected this time.”

Dorman Walker, an attorney who sat on the panel with State Sen. Gerald Dial and State Rep. Jamie Ison, said redrawing the districts required a measure of “exactitude” with a “narrow range of deviation.”

“This is a necessary and important process,” Walker said.

A presentation of the reapportioned districts will take place during a public meeting at 2 p.m. Wednesday, May 18 at the State House Joint Briefing Room in Montgomery. For more information, contact the Legislative Reapportionment Office at 334-242-7941 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting              334-242-7941      end_of_the_skype_highlighting or visit www.legislature.state.al.us/reapportionment/reap.html.