178th District / Bucks County
The proposed redistricting plan which splits Northampton Township in Bucks County into two separate legislate districts will be detrimental to our community. Since 1982, Northampton Township has been wholly located within the 178th Legislative District. As the Township has grown, creating increased demand for municipal services, the Township has invested significantly to expand its public services. Also, The Township is located entirely within the Council Rock School District (“CRSD”), is the largest municipality within CRSD, and has 8 CRSD schools within its borders including Council Rock High School South. As a result, there exists a great commonality of interests among and between the various neighborhoods and the more than 40,000 Township residents. Over the last 40 years the Township has been represented in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives by a single State Representatives regarding all matters of state and local government. This singular and unified representation has (i) greatly enhanced and improved the ability of the Township Supervisors to respond to the increased demand for municipal services noted above, and (ii) positively affected the constituent services provided to the residents and businesses of the Township. For the reasons noted above, I believe that the 2021 Pennsylvania Legislative Reapportionment Commission’s proposal to relocate Districts 9, 10 and 14 of the Township within the boundaries of the 142nd Legislative District, while leaving the remainder of the Township within the 178th Legislative District are against the best interests of Northampton Township and its residents. Further, the proposed map reduces the number of competitive legislative districts in Bucks County from 7 to 2 out of 10. I believe that competition breeds excellence, innovation and spurs our representatives to be effective or face accountability for their actions. For all of the reasons noted above, I believe that the currently proposal should be reworked to ensure that Northampton Township remains in a singular Legislative District and the districts of Bucks Country remain as competitive as possible.