AIRC to have a full schedule of public hearings in July

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

It looks like the month of July is shaping up to be a full schedule of public hearings around the state for the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission. The next meeting will be in Chandler, AZ (location TBD) on July 13, 2011 at 9:30 a.m. UPDATE: The Commission now says no meetings scheduled for the week of July 11-15. Independent Redistricting Commission.

The East Valley Tribune reports Arizona redistricting timetable taking shape:

A working schedule discussed during a meeting Friday calls for a two-week round of hearings around the state, starting July 18, to get public input on how new districts should be drawn.

[A draft schedule for the commission's first round of public hearings envisioned meetings at 18 sites over 18 days, but the commission plans to condense that schedule into two weeks, perhaps with more than one hearing daily.]

Initial maps based only on districts of equal population would be released in August, but those so-called "grid" maps will be substantially redrawn after the commission considers other criteria also mandated by state and federal law.

The commission will hold a second round of public hearings after releasing another version of the maps in September.

"This is likely to be the much more detailed period of discussion," said Ken Strasma, head of a Washington-based firm hired as the commission's mapping consultants.

The tentative schedule calls for the commission to approve final maps by Oct. 31.

The final maps are subject to a pre-clearance review by the U.S. Department of Justice to ensure the maps protect minorities' voting rights, pursuant to the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

I have already explained to you why it is important under the Voting Rights Act of 1965 for civil rights organizations such as the NAACP and LULAC and other civil rights organizations to attend the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission public hearings and to testify on the record — it is your "community of interest" under the VRA that the law seeks to protect.

I have also explained why Democrats, Progressives, moderate Independents and "other" political party affiliations need to attend the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission public hearings and to testify on the record — you need to let the Commission know that "competitive districts" is the critical factor to the fairness of any new district maps the Commission is tasked to create. "Competitiveness" got short shrift 10 years ago.

You need to be organized. Start making those phone calls, e-mailing your lists and using social media to get your people to these Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission public hearings to testify.