David Brauer posted about the Commission's plan: >Some very quick observations about what you will see: > >1. All incumbents are protected (the most stretchy was my new guy Robert >Lilligren with a few Phillips blocks snuck into the new Ward 8. Dean >Zimmermann, the other Phillips guy, survives on the east edge of Ward >6.) ... >3. Natural and man-made boundaries are flouted (see Wards 3 & 8) ... >6. If you're wondering about what I call "homage to the new Guthrie >Theater's skyway" in Ward 8, that's probably to conform to the charter >requirement that wards be no more than twice as tall (north-south) as >high (east-west). ===== [KB] I noted that half of David's observations -- rightly -- are about ward 8, which is hardly compact and looks like Gov. Gerry himself might have come up with it. The ward 11 design isn't exactly compact either. All in all, the Commission has made another fine map showing why the decennial gerrymandering exercise is bad for both policy and politics.
It's also another example of why we need proportional representation elections in Minneapolis. When we elect the council or boards using PR, anyone interested in "minority opportunity" -- or any other kind of opportunity -- in elections won't have to worry about how arbitrary lines are drawn. They can just vote for candidates who represent them, their interests, their neighborhood, their party, or anything else. And we should almost never have to redraw lines to protect (or exclude) anyone. -- Ken Bearman, Kingfield _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
