Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
I received a message this afternoon from the AIRC meeting that "Tea Partiers have taken over the redistricting meeting and are demanding that Coleen Mathis resign."
Any member of the public who wants to resist this Tea Party tyranny threatening our democratic process should head on over to the AIRC meeting this afternoon (if it has not already been suspended). I hope to have reports from those in attendance later. If you have first-person reports, please post them in the comments.
The AIRC is holding a meeting today in Tucson at 1:00 p.m.
Location: Pima Community College – District Office
4905 E. Broadway Blvd.
Building “C” Room #105
Tucson, AZ 85709 (West of Rosemont Blvd.)
On the Agenda http://www.azredistricting.org/docs/Meeting-Info/Agenda-063011.pdf is a presentation by the newly hired mapping consultant Strategic Telemetry. The Commission may also take action on setting up the schedule of public hearings for its work.
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The Commission chose a mapping consultant from among those firms which actually submitted a proposal. Of the firms which actually submitted a proposal to the Commission’s RFP, the Commission chose the best qualified firm with the most experience in this field. Shouldn’t the Commission be hiring the best qualified firm? Is there a problem with this concept?
The firm that did the mapping for the last Commission did a shoddy job in the opinion of most observers. Its maps were litigated in the courts for over seven years before the judges threw up their hands and said you know what, the census is coming, let the next Commission fix the problem; case dismissed. It wasn’t a vindication of Its maps.
>The civility gap was stark
You don’t think that maybe the choice of redistricting company might have had something to do with that?
Strategic Telemetry is a campaign consulting firm for left-wing candidates. The company’s president, Ken Strasma, was President Obama’s national target director.
If a company that was a consulting firm for right wing candidates and the president of that company was Bush’s national target director that the democrats in the room would have sat by calmly calling for civility?
I find Democrats and lefties to be very calm when everything is going their way. When it isn’t things turn ugly and people get hurt.
I also see this call for calm from libs when things are going your way but I never have seen it when things are not going your way.
I don’t claim conservatives are any better along those lines but the hypocrisybugs me.
It seemed to me that very few of these people would have been complaining if they knew how the process actually worked.
Further, I would say that most of them just seemed angry at the prospect of their permanent majority being (in the least way) threatened. If Jason Rose’s firm had been called upon to do the job, I doubt very seriously that any of these people would have stood up on behalf of D’s and I’s and demanded a different, less partisan firm.
The D’s in attendance, by contrast, spoke only of the difficulty involved in making these decisions and expressed gratitude toward the commission for spending our tax dollars on a qualified firm (not the typical government M.O. after Huppenthal’s hand picked disaster). Unlike some Republicans who showed up making specific demands about their districts, the D’s expressed a desire for fair competition and nothing more. The civility gap was stark.
Adam is right. The decision is made. Lets move on with the process and remember that we don’t have to question patriotism and integrity every time we disagree with the other side.
I was there and spoke. There were many who came to the meeting not wanting to hear arguments and data about the mapping firm. The fact remains, the five commission members still retain final control over the new district boundaries.
There weren’t too many Tea Partiers calling for the chair’s resignation. There were some, to be sure. But not many. On the other hand there were plenty of people questioning her patriotism, honesty and integrity. It was eerily similar to the ’09 “Keep Your Government Out Of My Medicare” Tour.
One speaker who dared to commend the commission and ask for competitive districts was actually called a “scumbag” by a tea partier sitting in front of me. The chair asked that people be respectful and was subsequently booed.
Stay classy.
As for the issue at hand, the commission had four finalists for mapping consultant. Two from AZ and two from out of state. One Arizona company was called too partisan by Republicans, one Arizona company didn’t have the experience. The California company is the same one that mucked things up ten years ago. So they went with the most experienced.
As a taxpayer I am happy that they picked a firm that will get it done right the first time. They will be well-paid; these people don’t work pro bono. So I want my dollars spent wisely.
As for partisanship, the mapping consultants work for the commissioners. The commissioners call the shots. If Karl Rove were the best mapper in town, it wouldn’t necessarily mean that the maps would be red. He’s not the best mapper in town. The most experienced company won. Let’s move on. And for god’s sake, let’s be civil about it.