Proposed Senate/House maps for Allegheny County
Thank you to Chairman Nordenberg, Senators Ward and Costa, and Representatives McClinton and Benninghoff for a comprehensive and transparent process. Without a doubt, the process you have undertaken this year will set a standard for future reapportionments and that will be an excellent outcome. I am a long-time resident of Allegheny County, served as an elected School Director for a number of years and been actively involved in the political process in my community. I have also spent much time in volunteer organizations dedicated to fairness in elections and maps. So, my comments are to some degree influenced by that experience. First, with respect to the Senate map, I find the population deviations troubling. While I'm a resident of SW PA, I don't believe that my vote should carry more weight than that of a voter in SE PA. It's clear that the under population of most of the proposed SW PA Senate districts with the overpopulation of some districts in SE PA gives added weight to my vote. This isn't fair and should be corrected. In addition, I would suggest that if underpopulation deviations can't be avoided for other reasons (not splitting municipalities, etc.) that those deviations should more fairly occur in areas that have seen significant population growth rather than population decline. That way, over the 10 year period which the map would cover, the expected growth would probably "correct" the under population deviation. Specifically in Allegheny County, the Senate map splits the North Allegheny School District by putting Bradford Woods, Franklin Park and Marshall Township into SD 37 while McCandless Township would remain in SD38. Having been a school director for some years, I'm well aware that having two different state senators representing your district is difficult. Who do you call when you need assistance from the state? I recognize that school districts are not a protected class for purposes of redistricting, but would ask that you reconsider this split. Proposed SD 37 swings west and south in Allegheny County. Marshall, Franklin Park and Bradford Woods have minimal interaction with any of the other communities in this district. Areas of Allegheny County that do interact and represent communities of interest are pretty much defined by being north of the city or being south of the city. The structure of SD 37 is not particularly good given the realities of how communities interact. I might suggest removing Wards 10, 11, 12 of the city of Pittsburgh from District 38 and putting Marshall, Bradford Woods and Franklin back into proposed SD 38. I have not looked specifically at population numbers to see if this would work. The proposed House map is actually quite good in terms of creating more sensible districts. Within Allegheny County, I would suggest some adjustments. Wards 3 and 4 in the Town of McCandless should not be put into HD 28 while the rest of the municipality is in proposed HD 30. However, this map does also split the North Allegheny School District which I do not think is good. I'd also strongly suggest the the municipalities of Aleppo, Glenfield, Haysville, Glen Osborne and Sewickley Wards 1, 2, 3 be with the rest of Quaker Valley School District. In addition, Pittsburgh Ward 27 should not be split. The proposed map has some of it in HD 19 and some of it HD 20. I think that should be corrected. I understand that making changes in any map is a lot like squeezing a balloon. If you make an adjustment in one place, it will have a consequence somewhere else in the map. No map is perfect, but I appreciate the time, effort, professionalism, dedication and perseverance that you and the staff members have brought to the process. Thank you for your consideration.