Remedy to Increase Compactness in Luzerne County
Download File (Proposed Luzerne County Increased Compactness (1).zip)
This comment is in relation to the LRC proposed map as it relates to Luzerne County. As a proud resident of Luzerne County, I believe it is important to have districts that best align with the principles of fairness and compactness set forth in the Pennsylvania State Constitution. I appreciate the expeditious work of the LRC to abide by these principles. This proposed revision seeks to aid the LRC in meeting these principles to their fullest extent. Currently, the proposed contiguity of the initially released maps do not take into account the vastly different economies and demographics of the 116th and 117th legislative districts. The 116th District is an urban district and traditionally consists of the Greater Hazleton Area and Conyngham Valley, also aligning with the Greater Hazleton Area School District. The 117th District is a rural district that stretches across the West Side of Luzerne County. I appreciate the work of the Commission to create a map that does not split precincts or gerrymander districts. However, I believe that if the Commission intends to split Luzerne County with Susquehanna County, it should be done along the lines of the 117th District to ensure that the needs of our respective communities are best served by our future legislators. The goal of this proposed revision is to increase the compactness of Luzerne County and create more contiguous communities with similar populations. This map begins with adjusting the 117th district – adjacent to the 116th district –while maintaining a target population of 64,053 resident per district. The intended goal of the map is to create a more compact district that better aligns with the demographics and shared geography of the area. The proposed maps make the following changes: 1. Removes North Union Twp., East Union Twp., Union Twp., Ringtown Boro., Mahanoy Twp., Mahanoy City, and Shenandoah Twp. from the 116th District and adds them to the 117th Legislative District. 2. Removes Butler Twp., Sugarloaf Twp., and Conyngham Boro from the 117th Legislative District and adds them to the 116th Legislative District. The proposed shift consolidates the rural / urban parts of the respective districts to better align with the demographics of the area, without upending major voting trends The table below reflects the changes between the LRC proposed map and the modified map: 116th Legislative District: Condition LRC Proposed Map Modified Map Change Contiguity Y Y N/A Compactness 28% 43% 15% Competitiveness R+16 R+17 R+1 Pop. Deviation -107 +431 +324 VAP Hispanic 37% 35% -2% 117th Legislative District: Condition LRC Proposed Map Modified Map Change Contiguity Y Y N/A Compactness 36% 23% 13% Competitiveness R+22 R+21 R-1 Pop. Deviation -1190 +264 +926 VAP Hispanic N/A N/A N/A Additionally, the goal is to make the modified change while revising as few districts as possible. The proposed remedy only modifies the 116th and 117th legislative districts. I thank the LRC for the opportunity to submit these comments.