Palm Beach County cities want to be kept whole during redistricting - Palm Beach Post
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Updated: 5:59 p.m. Monday, Sept. 19, 2011
Posted: 5:50 p.m. Monday, Sept. 19, 2011
TALLAHASSEE — Florida House members spent much of Monday recapping what they learned from 26 public hearings on redistricting held this summer around the state.
When it comes to redrawing district lines for the 120 House seats, members of the public, community groups and local elected officials often urged lawmakers to strive to keep municipalities whole, without dividing them across more than one district. Boca Raton and West Palm Beach were among the communities making such pitches.
Singled out during the summer's hearing in Boca Raton were a couple districts – held by Rep. Steve Perman, a Democrat, and Bill Hager, a Republican. Perman's District 78 was criticized as unwieldy, stretching from the Fort Pierce area to Boca Raton; Hager's District 87 should be confined to Palm Beach County, some of those testifying said, rather than stretching as it does now, into Broward.
For Senate districts, Palm Beach County commissioners this summer urged lawmakers to keep the current compliment of three Senate districts with a majority of their population in the county, out of the six districts that now touch the county.
House Redistricting Chairman Will Weatherford, R-Temple Terrace, also set a few deadlines in advance of the Jan. 10 start of the legislative session, when redistricting efforts begin in earnest. The public can submit proposed maps until Nov. 1, while legislators have until Nov. 14 to turn in their own version of the statewide line-drawing, Weatherford said.
When lawmakers convene next year, Weatherford said the House, Senate and Congressional redistricting subcommittees are each expected to craft three map possibilities. Each committee will then vote on which plan it will recommend to the full House for a vote.
West Palm Beach Democrat Mack Bernard earned a shout-out Monday for being among only a handful of lawmakers who attended all 26 public hearings from Pensacola to Key West.
"We learned a lot. And saw a lot," said Bernard, after the House Redistricting Subcommittee noted his wide-ranging schlep.
20 Sep, 2011--
Source: http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNFm2zwfwQHcIICyLEZePNYRUDTZsQ&url=http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/state/palm-beach-county-cities-want-to-be-kept-1867311.html
~
Manage subscription | Powered by rssforward.com
