fair representation for Delaware County
Dear Chairman Nordenberg and the LRC, My name is Lisa Miller. I am a long time resident of Lower Merion Township in Montgomery County, PA. I have practiced law for many years in this area, and I raised my children here as well. I care about fair and racially equitable maps in PA because in educating my children, I witnessed first-hand how important it is to build and foster a strong community that supports its students, teachers, and parents; prioritizes the unity of values and mission, cooperation, and trust; and is representative of all voices, seeking input from a diverse population to better understand the needs of constituents, and to better advocate for the necessary resources to meet those needs. I do not see this happening for the students, parents, and teachers who live and work in neighboring Delaware County. The LRC House of Representatives map for Delaware County does a subpar job keeping school districts intact. More than half of the county's districts are split; in some cases, they are split three ways. It also splits all four of the county's most under-resourced school districts. We urge you to revisit the Delaware County maps and work toward keeping communities intact and strong by uniting the school districts and making it easier for under-resourced neighborhoods to access their legislators. I am a member of the Pennsylvania Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism. We are 40 synagogues comprising about 40,000 individuals, and Jewish communities across the Commonwealth uniting 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.” Our faith calls us to advocate for maps that will provide all Pennsylvanians, especially marginalized groups and racial minorities, with adequate representation. We would like to express our gratitude to the LRC for your hard work and your 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. It is heartening 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 ending partisan gerrymandering and creating opportunity districts in the House and to make necessary changes to Senate and certain House districts. Thank you, Lisa Miller, Beth David Reform Congregation, Gladwyne, PA Social Justice Team Member