Comments on latest LRC maps
Dear Chairman Nordenberg and the LRC: My name is Martin B. Beckerman, and I have resided in Berks County since 1962. Although my wife and I have lived in Exeter Township for many years, at various times we have lived in the City of Reading and before her retirement, my wife taught at Reading Senior High School for 33 years. I am a retired higher education administrator, whose first position in higher ed was with Reading Area Community College. Thus, we feel a strong connection to Reading and see ourselves as part of a larger community than the suburb in which we reside. Over the years that we have lived in Berks County, we have seen a tremendous growth in the minority population but have not seen a proportionate increase in their representation in our state government. As members of the local Reform Congregation Oheb Sholom, we have had the opportunity to become involved in the Pennsylvania Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism. RAC-PA is composed of 40 synagogues with an approximate total of 40,000 members. We are coming together with Jewish communities across the commonwealth to advocate for fair and racially equitable legislative maps. Jewish sacred legal text teaches “a ruler is not to be appointed unless the community is first consulted.” As we consider the redistricting process, we feel that our secular values for fair government intersect with the values of our faith, and that we are compelled to advocate for maps that will provide all Pennsylvanians, especially marginalized groups and racial minorities, with adequate representation. We deeply appreciate the LRC’s diligent efforts to improve the redistricting process. Thank you for holding hearings and making the process more transparent than in years past. We are especially grateful for your consideration and attention to racial equity. We are encouraged to see maps that reflect the growth in communities of color and give minority voters more representation than in years past. We are paying close attention to the final map release and trust that you will follow through with your commitment to creating minority opportunity districts and to taking community comments into account. We urge you not to give in to partisan pressure to backslide on the improvements to end partisan gerrymandering, to create opportunity districts in the House, and to make necessary changes to Senate and certain House districts. Currently, there are two House Districts in Berks County that represent the city of Reading, a city that is majority Latino with a significant Black population. The Unity Map, created by Pennsylvania Voice, called for two house districts where a majority coalition based on voting eligible population had the opportunity to elect candidates of their choice. The map proposed by this commission calls for the city of Reading to be represented by three House Districts, one with a majority Latino voting eligible population. Since they comprise the overwhelming majority in the City of Reading, we are concerned about maximizing the ability of Latino and Black communities to elect candidates of their choice. We have an additional concern regarding the Senate maps. Pennsylvania’s population has shifted significantly over the last ten years, declining in rural/western communities, and growing in more central and eastern cities. The LRC’s Senate map does not adequately represent these shifts. In Southwest and Central PA, the map draws many districts with populations significantly below what might be expected, while in Southeast PA, several districts are drawn with populations larger than one would expect. (Although the LRC’s current proposal for our senatorial district shows a slight improvement, a small decrease in the overage of population, we are nevertheless concerned with the big picture.) Overall, individual voters in Southeast PA have less clout. The standard deviation percentages seem to favor rural areas and almost erase any changes that should have taken place due to the reallocation of prisoners that was voted on earlier last year. The Senate map distributes the population inequitably, penalizing urban residents and minority communities. We urge you to correct this malapportionment and vote dilution by creating more districts in Southeastern PA. Thank you for your kind consideration. Respectfully submitted, Martin B. Beckerman