30 SECONDS OF YOUR TIME COULD LAST 10 YEARS. . .

[First Coast Tea Party]

Dear Friends:

Please see my email blast below.

It is essential that each of us write or call today and express our approval of this redistrict plan n the record without mentioning party.

Please encourage your friends and family to also do it. It only takes 30 seconds

Those who would oppose will be making their voices heard and so must we. This may well be our most important legislative initiative all year.

Below is my letter and I also left a voice mail.

Many thanks!

Cindy Graves

Dear Senators and Representatives:

You have done an excellent job in redistricting Florida. I attended the meeting in my area and can see that you have addressed the concerns of my fellow citizens and helped ensure a fair election process for Florida's future.

Our family is especially impressed with your adherence to to Amendment 5 and 6. We also appreciate that you seemed to follow the county lines where you could. Most especially I can't recall any public measure that requested so much input!

Thank you for time and effort and especially for keeping this entire process in the Sunshine!

I enjoyed participating in this historic moment using technology and the public hearings. You are to be commended as our community has been well served!


Cindy Graves

Webpage of redistricting maps - http://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Redistricting/?CFID=24443950&CF...

Senate redistricting committee contact email [e-mail]

Webpage of House of Representatives redistricting committee - http://www.myfloridahouse.gov/sections/committees/committeesdetail....

[Clara D. Flores]

This is proof that politics is dirdy.  Wearing the same old dirdy clothes year after year would would be a legimate description of politics, from local to nationwide, city, county, state, and everyone's favorite, federal.  I have heard this all of my life and have seen it when I had 20/20 eyesight.  Two year olds will lie to their mother when they KNOW they have done something that they were forbidden to do. 

Clara Flores

[amanda choate]

Done a little reading this morning. The new maps also include some sacrificial lambs.

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/state/redistricting-proposal-by-f...

[amanda choate]

Mr. Libby, Is the Senate map considered the most compliant with the two new amendments? If not, what map is endosed by the Fair Districts group? Where are there glaring problems? Who is the go to source on commentary in this regard. 63% of Floridians voted last year to mandate that this process not serve parties or incumbants. That is tantamount in my view.

[michael gable]

14th amendment.  Equal protection under the law.  Yeah, right.

[John Ray]

The map is amazing.  26 districts that are generally tighter, more reasonable, improved overall, and Southeast Florida had a lot of room for improvement.  Then I see this thaing, yeah thaing is right, in light blue - I'm thinking at first it is the St. Johns River, only its really pretty broad, whoa, its old District 3, back again, scaly, scrawny, and sprawly as sin.  It looks more like the border outline between the neighboring districts than a district itself.  Urban areas are linked by the lowest population densities they can find.  Do a ratio, perimeter divided by area, I'll bet D3 is 10 times the state average.  Is Florida trying to do an obvious gerrymander job, or what?  It sticks out like a mustache on the Mona Lisa.

[Holly Winsman]

I poll sat in District 3 last year and what a friggin' nightmare.  Corrine is not stupid by any means!!!!  She had ballots made exactly as they appeared and she filled in all the circles of who SHE would vote for!!!! She had two people handing these out at the beginning of the driveway and almost every single person came in to vote holding the prefilled ballot and just transposed what she had done to their real ballot.  I was utterly shocked.  The people in Pine Hills do not have to have any gray matter to vote and that should be illegal.  Mike is going to have a huge battle on his hands with tactics like this.  I can see why he feels the districting was not safe/fair, I don't think it is either.

[John H. Libby]

BTW The same issues came up in Texas.  A federal court redrew the maps increasing minority majority Districts by three.  http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/24/us/texas-gains-for-minorities-in-...  The Texas Attorney General appealed.

BREAKING NEWS! Then today a Federal Court refused to block the plan,  http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/26/us/texas-court-keeps-redistrictin...  Now it will have to be appealed to the SCOTUS.  This gives some insight into how things may play out here in Florida.

 

[John H. Libby]

I hope this will be the last redistricting cycle where we have to "pack" and "bleach" districts to meet the VRA requirements.  WE THE PEOPLE are hopefully beyond the need for this.

[Tom Wing]

As I said at the Redistricting hearing,  Corrine is, was, and always will pull the Race Card - because it works.  Obviously.

[michael gable]

Understand I'm not a lawyer, let alone a judge, so my opinion doesn't count, but it is screw the Voting Rights Act, which was aimed strictly at southern states, and in this case screw the SCOTUS as well.