Showing posts with label FL-3. Show all posts
Showing posts with label FL-3. Show all posts

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Hypocrisy on FL Redistricting: Why FairDistricts Florida & Florida League of Women Voters are early contenders for this blog's Turkey of the Year Award -all talk, little action and no submitted maps before the legal deadline


VIDEO FOR REDISTRICTING MEETING 1-20-12 http://youtu.be/3Vc7nSMLZU4
Hypocrisy on FL Redistricting: Why FairDistricts Florida & Florida League of Women Voters are early contenders for this blog's Turkey of the Year Award -all talk, little action and no submitted maps before the legal deadline
In my very last blog post, about ethics or rather the lack of them at the Florida Supreme Court, I mentioned that I was not surprised that longtime blog nemesis and South Florida Silver Spoon Dan Gelber was quoted saying that he had no problem with the campaign finance chair of the three Justices up for retention this November actually appearing before them, and seemed unconcerned how this sort of behavior comes across to Florida taxpayers.


But that sort of hypocrisy, galling as it is, is nothing compared to the months of the likes of Gelber & Co. whining and continually criticizing the the Republican-controlled state legislature for NOT revealing the redistricting map proposals before the various official meetings were held all over the state last year.


This despite the stone-cold fact that while the state legislature at least placed video of these meetings on YouTube and had a terrific intuitive website that allowed you to access lots of information, while FairDistricts' website offered little to chew over.


http://www.youtube.com/user/MyFloridaHouse
The videos on redistricting are here: http://www.youtube.com/user/MyFloridaHouse/videos?query=redistricting

And the FairDistricts' mailing list?
Well, all I know is that the last three times that I or anyone else on that list heard from them was Sept. 9th and  November 22nd of last year, and March 15th.


When you claim to be working hard on an important issue but only contact your own supporters three times in seven months, and once while the decisions are being made, frankly, that's pretty feeble, especially given how much the people there are always telling the news media how much you're doing the work for the people.


I vigorously supported both amendments on this blog before the 2010 election, but it's like the folks at FairDistricts are peeing on my leg and trying to convince me that it's raining.
No, it's not.

As you'll recall from my having mentioned it at the time here on the blog, since this state's own Mainstream Media weren't mentioning it then and haven't mentioned it since the maps were revealed months ago, FairDistrictsThe Florida League of Women Voters and La Raza and lots of others groups complaining about the lack of transparency in the process not only refused to release drafts or first editions of their own version of what the maps should look like, they also consciously made the decision NOT to hold public meetings around the state in advance of those official meetings, to educate supporters of FairDistricts.
Supporters like me.

How do I know?
Because supporters of FairDistrictslike me, urged them to do so, to ensure that citizens who attended the official meetings wouldn't waste time asking silly questions and could be fully briefed on what to expect.

For the record, I wrote a fact-filled email on August 2nd, 2011 to Jackie LeeDeirdre MacnabMargaret Wolter, Elizabeth C. PinesAnnie BetancourtSandra Colyer and Adrienne Kaltman, with bcc's to dozens of activists, Broward County and municipal pols, concerned citizens and reporters.
None of these women, who run things at FairDistricts or are the head of the Florida LWV, or the heads of local South Florida LWV chapters ever responded. 

Trust me, that simple fact that didn't go un-noticed or un-commented upon by me or most of the other people who received a copy of that email, and who still have the copy with the names of the women who weren't up to the task.

They could have discussed what some of the more difficult parameters would be for state legislators to square, as well as some of the more parochial factors to consider as well.
But instead of doing something positive, they did nothing.

Who knows, perhaps they were afraid of everyone catching on to the fact that many of the well-known African-Americans and Hispanics in this state who claimed to support the passage of Amendments 5 and 6, frankly, didn't seem to have much of a problem with the absurdity of Corrine Brown's FL-3 CD that currently stretches from Jacksonville to almost Orlando, perhaps, because she's an African-American.
http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/orlando_opinionators/2011/09/propublica-calls-out-corrine-brown-on-redistricting.html

This, despite the fact that her gerrymandered CD is and was perhaps the worst in the entire country and the poster child for what was wrong in this state and a reason to vote for Amendment 6..
Yes, another case of convenient outrage for some while they traffic in everyday hypocrisy.

As if that wasn't pathetic enough, these very same groups that complained for months NEVER actually submitted their own map proposals before the final deadline, despite being plenty of opportunities.
That would be NEVER as in EVER.

That's an unfortunate and dispiriting fact you didn't see emphasized in any of the accounts you ever saw or read on Channel 4, 6, 7 and 10, or in the Miami Herald or South Florida Sun-Sentinel, despite the fact that is was very important, since it showed that FairDistricts' and the League of Women Voters efforts for months was nothing more than bluffing.
So why didn't the South Florida or statewide MSM ever emphasize this?
Why?


That's good question, but then again, it's not for nothing that none of them was awarded a Pulitzer Prize on Monday for their news coverage the past year, is it?
No, you can tell why that's so everyday when you read the local newspapers or watch TV newscasts, that's no accident!

Most fair-minded people I know who supported the FairDistrict amendments thought that the failure to make an example out of Brown's CD would show that FairDistricts, despite winning at the ballot box, wasn't prepared to do the things necessary to show how serious they were.

Hmm-mm... and what happened to Brown's CD?
Oh, right, from FairDistricts and the League of Women Voters, nothing, since they submitted no maps..
But the state legislature decided that her snake-like district was no longer acceptable.
http://censusvalidator.blob.core.windows.net/mydistrictbuilderdata/Graphics/Enacted%20Congressional%20Districts.pdf


More on Brown here:
http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2012/03/corrine_brown_and_the_forgotten_innocent.html

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

The FL redistricting story you NEVER saw in the Miami Herald, Sun-Sentinel, or on local Miami TV -who was Missing-in-Action?


Above, one of candidate Scott Fortune's very effective videos I posted on the blog last year from his documentary about the social and economic problems associated with gerrymandering in perhaps the worst drawn congressional district in the country, FL-3, home of Rep. Corrine Brown. http://youtu.be/m2l4WUZ_lcE

The FL redistricting story you NEVER saw in the Miami Herald, Sun-Sentinel, or on local Miami TV -who was Missing-in-Action?


How many of South Florida's State Senators on the 27-member Senate Reapportionment Committee DIDN'T attend important redistricting meetings?

Funny that you asked since it seems like a reasonable question that you'd think might've occurred to people who actually have giant printing presses and modern high-tech TV studios, doesn't it?
Especially given all that shouting a few months ago about what was and wasn't compact and contiguous and the importance of keeping communities intact and not divided.

In other parts of the country that might be something curious reporters pursue, but here in South Florida, not so much.
Five of the scheduled six Comm. meetings have been held the past three months.

Vice-Chair Gwen Margolis -October 18th and November 2nd, November 15th
Oscar Braynon, II -November 2nd, November 15th
Rene Garcia -November 15th,
Larcenia Bullard -October 18th

What is the the purpose of being on the Comm. if you can't/won't show-up for the meetings?

And poor Anitere Flores has been an island onto herself, attending ZERO meetings, whiffing on September 22nd, October 5th, October 18th, November 2nd, November 15th. Zero for five.
Why? Because she was pregnant.
Then why not refuse the appointment so that someone else could participate?



The last scheduled meeting of the Comm. is a week from today, next Tuesday, from 1-6 p.m., and the agenda is:
Consideration of proposed committee bill:
SPB 7032 by Reapportionment—Congressional Districts of the State,
and, Consideration of proposed committee bill:
SPB 7034 by Reapportionment—Apportionment



The Florida Legislature convenes in full session on January 10th.

And talk about being oblivious on Monday night, with all sorts of news coming out of Tallahassee
about proposed redistricting maps in Florida, both for the Florida legislature and for Congress,
http://www.tampabay.com/specials/2011/reports/redistricting/ with Florida gaining two new House seats, and where some of the maps favored by the FL Senate have longtime incumbents being drawn-out of their current districts, something that opponents have been saying for months would never happen -inc. Rep. Alcee Hastings- guess which second-tier TV market had zero news stories about it Monday night?
Yes, Miami/Ft. Lauderdale of course

Channel 4/WFOR-TV
The CBS affiliate has two -2- redistricting stories on their website since December of last year, and none of them have video or even have an author's byline.

Channel 6/WTVJ-TV
The NBC affiliate has two generic stories since last December, no video.

Channel 7/WSVN-TV
The FOX affiliate has one story on their website, from August 15th, with no video.

Channel 10/WPLG-TV
The ABC affiliate has two stories on their website
and is the only one of the four that had anything about the proposed maps that were released, albeit, very little info that we didn't already know in a seven-sentence story.
But they had no on-air stories about it.

It also may interest you to know that none of the four English-language Miami TV stations had a single news story on their websites about the redistricting in Miami-Dade and Broward for county commission seats.

That feeble effort, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, is the South Florida news media as the year 2011 begins to recede, and we all know that even worse news-reporting is ahead the rest of the year.


Redistricting Maps Drawn by the Senate

On November 28, the Senate Reapportionment Committee published proposed committee bills redrawing district boundaries for congressional and state legislative electoral districts.

Congressional PlanSenate Plan
Palm Beach Post
Change ahead for U.S. Rep. Rooney, state Sen. Benacquisto under redistricting plan
State Sen. Lizbeth Benacquisto and U.S. Rep Tom Rooney figure to have their political futures affected by the redistricting plans looming for Florida.
By JOHN KENNEDY, Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Updated: 10:37 p.m. Monday, Nov. 28, 2011
Posted: 8:43 p.m. Monday, Nov. 28, 2011

TALLAHASSEE — At least two Palm Beach County lawmakers face changing political futures under new district maps unveiled Monday by the Florida Senate.

U.S. Rep. Tom Rooney, a two-term Tequesta Republican, and state Sen. Lizbeth Benacquisto, a Republican who formerly served as a Wellington village council member, are moving in opposite directions under the proposals.
Read the rest of the article at

My last blog post on redistricting was last Tuesday, titled, No Fair Districts here: Surprise! NAACP's proposed 2012 map keeps HB & Hollywood divided: Blacks given to Frederica Wilson, Jews to DWS; told ya!


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Tuesday, November 22, 2011

No Fair Districts here: Surprise! NAACP's proposed 2012 map keeps HB & Hollywood divided: Blacks given to Frederica Wilson, Jews to DWS; told ya!


Above, my screen grab of FL-17 Rep. Frederica Wilson appearing on WPLG-TV/Channel 10's "This Week in South Florida," July 21, 2011, with host Michael Putney. Wilson was only Florida House member to vote YES to increase the U.S. debt limit.

Fair Districts here: Surprise! NAACP's proposed 2012 map keeps Hallandale Beach & Hollywood divided: Blacks given to Frederica Wilson, Jews to Debbie Wasserman-Schultz; told ya!

The Central Florida Political Pulse blog of the Orlando Sentinel, which has been doing an infinitely better job of covering the Florida 2012 redistricting issue than any South Florida newspaper or blog, had the unhappy news yesterday that we were anticipating -despite their previous lip-service, the Florida NAACP was and is the object of the ruling status quo society.

They have zero interest in having this state actually have legislative districts that encourage competitive elections that are based on ideas and public policies.

Here's a question for the NACCP.
Florida is the fourth-largest state in the United States.
Yet the state's Black Democratic politicians are currently so unappealing and ineffective and so lacking in common sense on the issues that most concern Floridians, that in my opinion, not a single one could be elected state-wide.
Not one.

Even while Republican Jennifer Carroll, mother of Dolphin defensive back Nolan Carroll, was elected Lt. Governor as part of Rick Scott's ticket last November.

Compare that to California, Texas, or NY, the three states larger than Florida.
Each one has had African-American Democratic candidates successfully earn the nomination for governor or U.S. Senate based on primary campaigns dealing with ideas and the state's future, and DIDN'T have state Democratic elected officials abandon them and bail in droves like Florida's White Democrats did to Kendrick Meek last year in his third-place U.S. Senate race against Marco Rubio and Gov. Charlie Crist, supporting Crist.

In Florida, though, like a caricature of a cartoon, most of the Black Dems who are best-known to the public throughout the state are known more for negative things than their particular legislative accomplishments or in-depth knowledge of a subject of public policy importance, and the troubling thing is that most reporters and Democratic voters don't seem to care how this looks. Perception becomes reality.
Instead, they just shrug their shoulders.

That means that to the extent they are known at all, they're known and usually reported upon in the state's MSM because of their fashion sense, continuing questions about whether they are STILL breaking state rules on residency, and their unwillingness to engage in a public discussion of ideas other than ones of their own choosing: Frederica Wilson, Joe Gibbons, Corrine Brown.
And there's more where that comes from, like princely State Senator Gary Siplin of Orlando, who, judging from his history, seems to prefer that Florida legislators have as much leeway and as little adult supervision as possible.

See for yourself:
Central Florida Political Pulse blog
Siplin blasts ethics bill, defends Sansom, and Senate committee shoots it down
posted by aaron deslatte on March, 29 2011 5:30 PM
Palm Beach Post
Florida ethics panel drops $200,000 in fines owed by 168 officials after time limit passes
By John Kennedy, Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Posted: 4:57 p.m. Friday, June 17, 2011

There's your dose of reality, Florida and Florida reporters.
Breaking News! Not!

Rep. Corrine Brown, FL-3, is someone who is literally her own worst enemy, often placing a verbal noose around her own neck, again-and-again, to defend the indefensible: "Look at the South. Nothing has changed.''
Really?

The evidence to the contrary of that is all around us, starting at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, but then how do you argue with somone who has made clear for so long that facts have little to do with what she says or does?

See where that quote comes from at the bottom of this post, and see the back story on this perpetually embarrassing woman in the June 12th, 2010 Buzz blog post in the St. Pete Times by Adam C. Smith titled, Corrine Brown and Mr. Gerry Mandering,

To take a look at Rep. Brown's current joke of a congressional district -CD- the Jacksonville-to-Orlando 200-mile absurdity which was highlighted here on my blog and in print ads and TV commercials last year, which helped lead to overwhelming public support among Florida voters for Amendments 5 & 6 last November, see http://www.govtrack.us/congress/findyourreps.xpd?state=FL&district=3

To see a great video on Corrine Brown's embarrassing CD, see my post of October 25, 2010, titled, New TV ad from FairDistrictsFlorida.org; FL-17 and Corrine Brown's FL-3 are embarrassing embodiment of what unchecked gerrymandering gets you:

Orlando Sentinel columnist Scott Maxwell spelled it all out very nicely in his Taking Names column of November 8th, saying about her,

If Florida ever stops gerrymandering, Brown's Democrat-loaded district is toast.

There's no way her snake-like district, which covers 200 miles and stretches from Jacksonville to Gainesville and then down to Sanford and Orlando, could survive.


Orlando Sentinel
Corrine Brown, secret interests fight your vote
November 08, 2011
Scott Maxwell, TAKING NAMES

And locally, congrats Hallandale Beach, Liberty City, Overtown and Hollywood!
Like it or not, it's been decided that you voters in FL-17 have an awful lot in common and that you've drawn the short straw and won't be having an actual congressional campaign next year.

Your representative has already been selected for you: globetrotting, do-nothing Frederica Wilson and her far-flung and over-the-top hats.
The woman whom, as I've previously written here, repeatedly said she supported Obama's ill-conceived jobs bill, but who never quite ever managed to find the time to formally sign-up to be a House sponsor herself, behavior that matched FL-20's DWS.
Nope, she was always too busy.
What a hypocrite!

And who locally is laughing about the NAACP's congressional maps?
Residents of Aventura, the Miami-Dade County city south of me by a few blocks, as the NAACP takes the position that Aventura will continue be repped by someone in Washington from Broward County who lives northwest of me, Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, while here in the part of Hallandale Beach west of U.S.-1, we get to continue to be represented by someone from Miami-Dade whose district is based far SE from here in Liberty City, Overtown and Opa-Locka.
So whatever happened to the important notion of "compactness'?

Yes, the NAACP will do anything to keep the frequently-absent Frederica Wilson in office, even if it violates the intent and spirit of the two state constitutional Amendments that were overwhelmingly passed last year.
Surprise!

And if that means Wilson never has to have a competitive general election and can take her job for granted...
Right, it's not THEIR problem.

As for FL State House Rep. Joe Gibbons, well as everyone who comes to this blog knows by now, that former HB city commissioner represents a district here in SE Broward County, but it's not where his own wife and children live.

I know, I know, you really thought "home is where the heart is," right?
Not in his case.

Gibbons is an old-fashioned political opportunist and carpet-bagger, and as has been mentioned here numerous times, with the links to articles and post to prove it, Gibbons even tried to claim a Homestead exemption for his so so-called HB home, but the city rejected it because he failed the residency requirements most basic rule -he didn't live there.

Yet what has happened to him?
What has Broward State's Attorney Mike Satz done to show that nobody is above the law, even the low threshold that the Florida Legislature maintains for itself?
Nothing.

When did the august editorial boards of the Miami Herald or South Florida Sun-Sentinel ever write anything about it?
They never have.

When you consider who is on their Editorial Board, it's little wonder -not exactly mental giants!

Some of the folks above are the same people responsible for the endorsement of Anthony A. Sanders for HB City Commission in 2008, despite his disconnectedness from the larger community, a fact which is just as self-evident three years later.
Was it because he was Black and they were suffering pangs of Liberal White Guilt that earned him the nod, when facts seem not to have mattered to the editorial board?

Not that the Herald has ever written a single thing about any of Sanders' actions involving ethics, or the city rushing to purchase his home for more than it was worth, but then renting it out for a dollar a month with no plausible explanation for what the property is intended to be used for. That's still the case.
So why did the city buy it?
No explanation and the Herald doesn't ask.

Meanwhile, his completely unsatisfactory performance as commissioner now enters its fourth year.

Yes, there's your freedom of the press in the year 2011 in South Florida -sleepwalking.

And he talks about running for Congress?
From what state?

And I would know since I've had a Google Alert for Joe Gibbons for years.

Last year I finally subscribed to the Central Florida Political Pulse via my Blogger Reading List, after formally having them Bookmarked for years, since it allows me to receive their posts within seconds of them being posted online, which is fantastic.

NAACP redistricting maps have familiar look
Redistricting NAACP plan with comparison to the current Congressional districts in Central Florida
By Aaron Deslatte, Tallahassee Bureau Chief
10:47 p.m. EST, November 20, 2011

TALLAHASSEE — Republican lawmakers say voters who last year endorsed the anti-gerrymandering Fair Districts constitutional reforms may be in for a rude awakening when the first drafts of congressional and legislative maps are released in the coming weeks.

Something akin to: Meet the new maps, same as the old maps.
Read the rest of the article at:


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Roll Call
Democrats Betting Big on Florida Redistricting
New Fair Districts Law Will Prevent Major GOP Gerrymander, but Huge Gains Are Not Likely
By Joshua Miller, Roll Call Staff
Nov. 8, 2011, Midnight

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WTVY-TV News (Dothan, Alabama) video: Fla. Redistricting Process Getting Heated. Posted: 9:18 PM Nov 21, 2011, Reporter: Troy Kinsey. Updated: 9:21 PM Nov 21, 2011,

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Meanwhile, at Steve Schale's blog...
Story Lines - Florida Congressional Redistricting
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2011 AT 5:54PM

As we near the unveiling of the first official Congressional redistricting maps, here are some of the interesting story lines to keep an eye out for. This list isn't meant to be exhaustive, but more the things that I am watching out for as the reapportionment and redistricting process begins in earnest in early December.
Read the rest of his post at:

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Here's a question: Why is it that all this time after former City of Miami City Manager Tony Crapp, Jr. resigned, that we still don't know for whom -or what group- in the redistricting battle he's working on behalf of?

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*Reminder: Broward County Commission will vote on their own redistricting maps in three weeks on December 13th. More on that as the date approaches.

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Miami Herald http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/09/20/1834230/congressional-vets-align-with.html

Congressional vets align with business groups to challenge redistricting proposals

By Mary Ellen Klas, Herald/Times Tallahassee Bureau

September 20, 2010

As the high stakes battle over drawing political boundaries goes to the November ballot, two veteran Florida congressmen joined with business groups Monday to launch a campaign to defeat the proposals that would upend the way their districts are drawn.

Democratic Rep. Corrine Brown of Jacksonville and Republican Rep. Mario Diaz Balart of Miami, both elected to Congress in 1992, said they will work to defeat Amendments 5 and 6 because they believe the standards will lead to less minority representation, not more.

"These amendments will have the effect of bleaching the state of Florida as it was before 1992 when minorities did not have the ability to elect candidates of their choice,'' said Diaz Balart.

"It's unworkable. It will have a devastating effect on minorities across the state.''

The amendments, pushed by Fair Districts Florida, create new standards that would make it harder for legislators to gerrymander political districts. Proponents say the standards will strengthen the rights of minorities under the 1965 Voting Rights Act by chiseling them into the constitution, not weakening them.

"Rep.'s Diaz Balart and Brown are sadly mistaken about Amendments 5 & 6,'' said Howard Simon, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida. "These constitutional amendments are the most important changes that voters can make right now that will strengthen minority voting rights and protect the right of minorities to elect representatives of their choice.''

The anti-amendment effort, known as the Protect Your Vote campaign, has enlisted the help of former Secretary of State Kurt Browning and the public relations firm of Ron Sachs Communications.

The committee is ready to raise and spend "at least $4 [million] maybe more'' to defeat Amendments 5 and 6, Browning said, and will place ads on television. Associated Industries of Florida and the Florida Chamber of Commerce have lined up in support.

Browning warned the amendments would effectively "give the courts more influence in that process, which is unnecessary.''

Brown and Diaz Balart had hoped that a legislative counter measure would also be on the ballot, but the Florida Supreme Court threw it out two weeks ago. They have also filed their own lawsuit seeking to keep the measure off the ballot, but have lost at every stop.

Florida's once-a-decade redistricting process has been riddled with court fights since 1992, when the court-drawn districts ushered in maps that concentrated minority voters into minority-majority districts. Since then, the state has had three black members and three Hispanics elected to Congress.

That year, the new maps resulted in diluting Democratic congressional districts and the Florida Legislature. It also gradually allowed Republicans to control to the Legislature and assume the majority in Florida's congressional delegation by the mid-1990s.

Supporters of the Fair Districts campaign argue that the amendment will impose new standards that will allow for more geographically compact districts, increase competition for elected office and ensure that minorities are represented when districts are redrawn.

The group has raised $4.2 million to collect enough signatures to get on the ballot and defend the legal challenges. Much of the group's money came from trial lawyers, teachers, unions and out-of-state advocacy organizations.

The amendments are also supported by the NAACP and all but two of Florida's legislative black caucus members, who argued that in the two decades since the 1992 court-drawn districts, minorities have been elected from districts that aren't concentrated and that Florida voters are now more color-blind.

But Brown said Monday she disagrees. "Look at the South. Nothing has changed,'' she said. "You can't take politics out of politics.'' Brad Ashwell of Florida Public Interest Research Group called Brown and Diaz Balart's opposition a self-serving attempt to scare minority voters.

"It's inherently political,'' Ashwell said. ``Reforming the redistricting process is an aggressive assault on whatever party is in power. It's going to radically affect their ability to retain their power. What we want is more competitive elections, more accountability.''

Saturday, August 6, 2011

Upcoming Florida redistricting hearings in Broward & Miami-Dade Counties in mid-August; sadly, lack of local forums by civic groups is par for course

Scott Fortune - A Horribly Gerrymandered Congressional District


What follows below are selected excerpts of an email I sent on Tuesday to someone who's deeply involved in the 2012 redistricting issue in Florida that's already well underway.
Perhaps it will give some of you on the sidelines some insight into what is -and isn't- happening right now, which, in my opinion, is not nearly enough.

As most of you who read this blog even fairly know, I was and am a very strong supporter of FairDistricts and voted FOR Amendments 5 and 6. http://fairdistrictsnow.org

Following that I have included here some helpful information I received late on Friday afternoon from Benjamin M. Fairbrother of the Florida House of Representatives Redistricting Comm. regarding the upcoming meetings.

To get you into the spirit of things, I'm reprising here two great videos by former congressional candidate Scott Fortune that I previously have used in the last two lengthy posts I had about redistricting, the first video of which is up at the top.

In 2010, Fortune ran in the Democratic primary against mendacious, mean-spirited and gerrymandered to a fair-thee-well Rep. Corrine Brown, one of the two current Florida congresspersons suing to keep things status quo in this state -FUBAR- so that they and their ilk can continue to avoid genuine accountability in congressional elections that are actually competitive, and with them, real discussion about issues, not repetition of talking points.

That much-discussed gerrymandered CD, FL-3, stretches from the Jacksonville area to north of Orlando, as you can see here.

The reasons it looks that way are described here:

The odd size and irregular shapes of many Florida congressional districts -CDs- is a subject I wrote often (and frustrated) about last year, esp. FL-17, where I live, two miles east of the Atlantic Ocean in Broward County, repped by someone -Frederica Wilson- in a CD that has as its political center an area in another county, northwest of downtown Miami, that shares few of the everyday concerns that people in Hallandale Beach and Hollywood have.

Scott Fortune - Gerrymandering in Mt. Dora, Fla.

See Scott Fortune's other eye-opening videos on gerrymandering in Florida at:


a.) October 25, 2010 New TV ad from FairDistrictsFlorida.org; FL-17 and Corrine Brown's FL-3 are embarrassing embodiment of what unchecked gerrymandering gets you

b.) June 14, 2011 Florida's 2012 redistricting meetings in South Florida are only two months away, so where are the competing maps? Or the pre-event info meetings?

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My excerpt starts with what was the second or third paragraph, after some general pleasantries:

Having grown-up down here before leaving for college at Indiana, I know full well how brutal August is for people living down here, A/C or no A/C, both in terms of the actual weather, latent concerns about hurricanes, plus, juggling vacations, kids camps, or even weddings or company outings or conventions.
Some people, maybe even most people, just want to do nothing in August except stay cool, keep their hurricane supplies handy and watch sports or catch a movie.
(I should know.)

I get that, really I do, still, I'm mystified that even in apathetic South Florida, where people with civic-minded natures are few-and-far-between, so many groups down here who, in my opinion ought to be filling-in the vacuum and showing some strong public interest in mobilizing their supporters or members in attending and actively participating in the upcoming meetings or something along the lines of what I'm suggesting in terms of an education outreach -so they can be exposed to various map scenarios- are NOT rising to the fore.

At least not to the point of actually announcing public plans for something tangible, and we're now just over two weeks away from those meetings.
If people don't know a week in advance, what's the point, since the percentage who can then attend is clearly much less than it could be?

Since I have a Google Alert for "redistricting," I see everything on redistricting, not just here in FL, but across the country for various govt. entities.
When you see what other communities are doing and how everyone down here is just snoozing...

Today's Sun-Sentinel finally had something decent, mentioning what the Broward League of Women Voters are doing on Saturday in Davie
but again, where are the other groups?

That said, to be honest, I'm less than crazy that Davie is the site for Broward's one and only official redistricting meeting.
That is not at all centrally-located or even convenient to get to.

It's hard not to get the impression because of the reasons you and many others have so ably articulated in the past -foremost, lack of maps at the meetings- that many State Senators involved in the process are no doubt chuckling to themselves that they've created a scenario that is the ultimate win-win for them -the pretense of transparency with none of the messy details having to come up at the meetings.
And everything gets settled in Tallahassee.

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From: MyDistrictBuilder
Date: Fri, Aug 5, 2011 at 4:50 PM
Subject: Email Update - Florida House Redistricting - August 5, 2011
To: MyDistrictBuilder


Florida House of Representatives – House Redistricting Committee

Redistricting Update – August 5, 2011

Location Change for the August 29 Tampa Redistricting Meeting


Due to expected attendance, the location for the August 29th Florida redistricting meeting in Tampa has changed to: Jefferson High School Auditorium, 4401 Cypress Street, Tampa, Florida 33607. Jefferson High School has plenty of free parking, close proximity to a bus stop, and more seating than the original downtown location. We think it will be much more convenient for the public. Persons who pre-registered (RSVP) to attend/speak at the Tampa meeting will be receiving and email or letter that confirms the change of address.


Public Submissions of Redistricting Maps and Suggestions

Via www.floridaredistricting.org, you can access our Plan Explorer site to view, comment on and share redistricting suggestions submitted by Florida residents. The site highlights proposed maps for Florida’s State House, State Senate and congressional districts. Of the 23 maps submitted by Florida residents thus far, 20 were created with the Florida House’s MyDistrictBuilderTM application. For your convenience, all 23 submissions received thus far are listed below, along with links to written suggestions that were submitted to the House.

· Plan 0023 – Partial plan for Congress, affecting Orange, Osceola and Polk counties

· Plan 0022 – Partial plan for Congress, affecting Lake, Marion and Sumter counties

· Plan 0021 – Partial plan for Congress, affecting Lake, Marion and Sumter counties

· Plan 0020 – Complete plan for Congress

· Plan 0019 – Complete plan for Congress

· Plan 0018 – Partial plan for the State House, affecting 34 North Florida counties

· Plan 0017 – Partial plan for Congress, affecting Orange, Osceola and Polk counties

· Plan 0016 – Partial plan for the State House, affecting Hernando, Hillsborough, Pasco, Pinellas and Sumter counties

· Plan 0015 – Partial plan for Congress, affecting Citrus, Lake, Orange and Sumter counties

· Plan 0014 – Partial plan for the State Senate, affecting Citrus, Lake and Sumter counties

· Plan 0013 – Partial plan for the State House, affecting Lake County

· Plan 0012 – Partial plan for the State House, affecting Orange, Seminole and Volusia counties

· Plan 0011 – Partial plan for the State House, affecting Lake County

· Plan 0010 – Partial plan for the State Senate, affecting Citrus, Lake, Orange and Sumter counties

· Plan 0009 – Partial plan for Congress, affecting Lake and Seminole counties

· Plan 0008 – Partial plan for Congress, affecting Lake, Orange and Sumter counties

· Plan 0007 – Complete plan for the State Senate

· Plan 0006 – Complete plan for Congress

· Plan 0005 – Complete plan for Congress

· Plan 0004 – Complete plan for Congress

· Plan 0003 – Complete plan for Congress

· Plan 0002 – Partial plan for the State House, affecting Brevard and Volusia counties

· Plan 0001 – Complete plan for Congress

· Written suggestions – Congress

· Written suggestions – State House

· Written suggestions – State Senate

Along with the feedback from the Legislature’s 26 public input meetings throughout Florida, these maps and written suggestions will constitute the starting point for redistricting when legislators return to Tallahassee in the fall of 2011 for committee meetings.


Upcoming Meetings

The complete Florida redistricting public meeting calendar (attached) can be found by visiting: http://www.floridaredistricting.org/. The remainder of public input meeting calendar includes meetings at the following locations:

· Stuart – August 15

· Boca Raton – August 16

· Davie – August 16

· Miami – August 17

· South Miami – August 17

· Key West – August 18

· Tampa – August 29

· Largo – August 30

· Sarasota – August 30

· Naples – August 31

· Lehigh Acres – August 31

· Clewiston – September 1

As always, if you have any questions or need additional information, please feel free to contact us.


Sincerely,

Benjamin M. Fairbrother


House Redistricting Committee

Florida House of Representatives

400 House Office Building

O: (850) 921-8831

www.floridaredistricting.org


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