Area officials take aim at final Pa. legislative maps

HARRISBURG - Members of the state commission charged with approving the final legislative district maps got an earful Wednesday from the Philadelphia area.

More than a dozen local elected officials and citizens from the region testified at a hearing that the GOP-crafted legislative district plan splits municipalities, divides historically connected communities, and bunches minorities into single districts.

Officials testifying from Philadelphia, Montgomery, and Chester Counties labeled the plan unconstitutional, divisive, and bad public policy.

"It would significantly dilute and diminish our voice in Harrisburg," said West Chester Mayor Carolyn Comitta. The borough council voted unanimously to oppose the plan, she said.

West Chester, which has been represented by a single Chester County legislative district, would be divided and a portion placed in a district mainly in Delaware County.

Comitta said the plan, which carves up the West Chester University campus, violates the constitutional provision that municipalities shall not be split unless "absolutely necessary."

The redistricting commission, which voted, 3-2, to approve a preliminary plan last month, is made up of the two Democratic and two Republican leaders in the House and Senate. Commission Chairman Stephen J. McEwan Jr., president judge emeritus of Superior Court and a former GOP district attorney of Delaware County, cast the deciding vote.

The redrawing process takes place once every decade after the release of census figures, and aims to take into account shifting populations among the state's 253 legislative districts.

The commission has 30 days from the closing of public comments on Nov. 30 to take its final vote.

Any legal challenges to the maps would go directly to the state Supreme Court, which would have 30 days to act.

The timetable is tight. Jan. 24 is the date House and Senate candidates begin circulating their petitions for the 2012 elections, and districts must be established by then.

Barry Kauffman, executive director of Common Cause of Pennsylvania, says he understands some Latino groups may challenge the maps on the ground that their configuration violates the 1965 Voting Rights Act, which protects minority voters.

He said there was evidence of "packing and cracking" in districts, but that recent court decisions make challenging the maps difficult.

"Packing" crams all minorities in one district, while "cracking" divides communities of interest and removes their political strength.

"Across the board, there are some pretty serious concerns about the way redistricting plan treats Pennsylvania's communities," said Kauffman. "Specifically, splitting municipalities in violation of the Constitution, and some districts are bizarrely designed."

Kauffman highlighted two Democratic districts in Philadelphia that will be affected: Rep. Mark Cohen's 202d District in Northeast Philadelphia, which is no longer compact, and Rep. Pamela Delissio's 194th District, which comes together only at a pinpoint at one intersection in Northwest Philadelphia.

Angel Ortiz, a former Philadelphia city councilman, said he objected to what he called the map's shoving Latinos into a single district, the 197th, represented by Rep. Jewell Williams.

"We deserve two Latino districts," he said. "We have been gerrymandered throughout our history in Philadelphia and Pennsylvania. I don't know anyone who can explain this map and say it's reasonable. It doesn't meet the smell test."

Kauffman said court decisions over 15 years in Pennsylvania and nationally have found in favor of the mapmaking bodies.

Rep. Greg Vitali (D., Delaware), who represents Haverford Township, one of 110 municipalities split by the maps, contends that the mapmaking carves up communities to preserve the seats of incumbents such as Republican Rep. Nick Micozzie.

"It makes my district more Democratic and it makes Rep. Margo Davidson's district more Democratic," said Vitali. "I believe the sole reason for this was to shore up the 163d [Micozzie's district] for political purposes."