[LWVNM Action] ABQ Journal - Editorial: Governor should veto lawmakers’ partisan, divisive congressional map
George Richmond
geomrich1 at comcast.net
Thu Dec 16 16:41:19 MST 2021
THANK YOU.
gEORGE
On 12/16/2021 4:32 PM, Richard Mason wrote:
> I will repeat. We brought Fair Districts together under a transparency
> and fairness principles. That large cross partisan coalition has been
> effective in the creation of the CRC and of shining light on the
> Legisltive process. We need to stand with what we promised our
> partners. There is a special responsibility as being the convener of
> the coalition. Can't bring people together under one set of principles
> and then decide to go your own way. That is what kills coalitions.
>
> Dick Mason
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: George Richmond via Action <action at mailman.swcp.com>
> To: action at mailman.swcp.com
> Cc: George Richmond <geomrich1 at comcast.net>
> Sent: Thu, Dec 16, 2021 4:26 pm
> Subject: Re: [LWVNM Action] ABQ Journal - Editorial: Governor should
> veto lawmakers’ partisan, divisive congressional map
>
> It seems to me that bring critical is really being against the outcome
> of the process, and thus against SB1.
>
> George Richmond
> On 12/16/2021 3:54 PM, Richard Mason via Action wrote:
> The League as convener of Fair Districts for NM that has 39 partners
> is the supporting the position of Fair Districts. We don't take a
> position on any of the maps, but have been very vocal and critical of
> the process including the one that produced SB1 - the Congressional map.
>
> Dick Mason
>
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: West Laura via Action <action at mailman.swcp.com>
> <mailto:action at mailman.swcp.com>
> To: Richard Mason via Action <action at mailman.swcp.com>
> <mailto:action at mailman.swcp.com>
> Cc: West Laura <laura_western at yahoo.com> <mailto:laura_western at yahoo.com>
> Sent: Thu, Dec 16, 2021 2:30 pm
> Subject: Re: [LWVNM Action] ABQ Journal - Editorial: Governor should
> veto lawmakers’ partisan, divisive congressional map
>
> Dick:
>
> How could the LWVNM *not *have a position on this editorial. The
> League should come out in full support of it. What the Legislature
> has done with redistricting is shameful and clearly doesn't support
> the Citizens Redistricting Act. Could you please explain to me *why*
> the LWVNM doesn't support the editorial?
>
> Kind regards,
>
> Laura Riedel
> Santa Fe
> On Thursday, December 16, 2021, 12:02:15 PM MST, Richard Mason via
> Action <action at mailman.swcp.com> <mailto:action at mailman.swcp.com> wrote:
>
>
> The LWVNM does not have a position on this - For info only
>
>
> Editorial: Governor should veto lawmakers’ partisan, divisive
> congressional map
>
> BY ALBUQUERQUE JOURNAL EDITORIAL BOARD
> <https://www.abqjournal.com/author/editorial>
> WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 15TH, 2021 AT 5:02AM
> <https://www.abqjournal.com/2454381/governor-should-veto-lawmakers-partisan-divisive-congressional-map.html#>
> Retired Supreme Court Chief Justice Edward Chavez and retired Court of
> Appeals Chief Judge Roderick Kennedy “enthusiastically” accepted the
> invitation to co-chair a redistricting task force “to bring justice,
> fairness and transparency” to the contentious decennial process.
> And yet, the far-flung congressional map before Gov. Michelle Lujan
> Grisham would carve the oil patch into three districts; split the
> population centers of Hobbs, Roswell and Albuquerque; and dilute the
> rural vote and shift even more political power to central New Mexico.
> In addition, it wasn’t even among the maps endorsed by the Citizen
> Redistricting Committee, created to follow through on the task force’s
> work.
> The time has come for the governor to honor the fact that her
> constituents should get to pick their representatives in government —
> rather than representatives in government picking their constituents.
> She should veto the map.
> Chavez and Kennedy said in a Journal guest column in January that the
> 25-member Redistricting Task Force worked for 12 weeks studying state
> and federal requirements, best practices from other states and
> concerns from specific communities before developing 18 consensus
> recommendations — all in a report available at NMFirst.org
> <http://nmfirst.org/>.
> The 22-page report says the guiding values should entail keeping
> like-minded communities together, prioritizing communities of
> interest, protecting marginalized groups, avoiding court intervention,
> and not favoring anyone, specifically political parties or incumbents.
> State lawmakers then created a seven-member Citizen Redistricting
> Committee, whose stated aim was to propose sets of maps honoring the
> redistricting principles. It’s hard to square those principles with
> state lawmakers’ approved congressional map, which would dramatically
> and unnecessarily reshape the state’s political landscape.
> The Citizen Redistricting Committee proposed three maps, and the
> Journal Editorial Board preferred the option that unified the
> Albuquerque metro area. We could live with the one that kept the
> status quo. The third, so-called “People’s Map,” was a gerrymandered
> abomination. The map on the governor’s desk takes that one even
> further and is even more painfully partisan. It can be viewed at
> https://www.nmlegis.gov/Redistricting2021/Maps_And_Data?ID202=221711.1
> <https://www.nmlegis.gov/Redistricting2021/Maps_And_Data?ID202=221711.1>
> If approved, the northern-based 3rd Congressional District of
> incumbent Teresa Leger Fernandez, D-Santa Fe, would stretch from
> Farmington down to north Hobbs and also pick up most of Roswell. It
> would still lean heavily Democratic, but would bring in a large area
> of constituents at odds with Leger Fernandez’s platforms.
> The central 1st Congressional District of incumbent Melanie Stansbury,
> D-Albuquerque, which contains most of metro Albuquerque, would shed
> much of the West Side, add Rio Rancho and run down to northwest
> Roswell to include a host of rural counties with very different
> constituent concerns from the urban core. It would also continue to
> lean Democratic.
> And the southern New Mexico-based 2nd Congressional District of Yvette
> Herrell, R-Alamogordo, would recoup its population losses by picking
> up much of Albuquerque’s West Side, including parts of Taylor Ranch
> and Ventana Ranch, the Barelas neighborhood and the South Valley. This
> would turn the traditionally Republican-leaning district into another
> one leaning Democrat, while carving up neighborhoods throughout the
> Albuquerque area. One example of the incongruity — the Rio Grande Zoo
> would shift to CD2, while Tingley Beach and the Albuquerque Country
> Club would remain in CD1.
> So much for preserving communities of interest. Strike one.
> Court battles over redistricting cost the state more than $6 million
> in 2011 and $3.7 million in 2001 in legal costs. House Republican
> leaders are already talking about challenging the map in court.
> So much for avoiding court. Strike two.
> Insiders say none of our three congresswomen likes the proposed map.
> Little wonder.
> It shifts much of the metro area’s population into southern CD2, which
> not only increases the chances of all three congressional seats being
> held by Democrats, but also being held by someone from Albuquerque or
> Santa Fe. That’s unfair to residents outside the Santa Fe-Albuquerque
> corridor.
> And it’s unfair to members of our congressional delegation, who
> already cover large swathes of New Mexico. This map increases the
> geographic and political stretch each must cover.
> The rural-urban divide has been an issue in New Mexico for decades.
> Southern New Mexico produces much of the state’s revenue via oil and
> gas, yet its conservative voting base feels little love from Santa Fe.
> And this map takes a chainsaw to that base.
> So much for not favoring a specific group or party. Strike three.
> Lujan Grisham should not allow herself to be swayed by her party’s
> antics — she should take this opportunity to be a true leader and
> represent the whole state when it comes to redistricting. Vetoing the
> congressional map and sending lawmakers back to the drawing board with
> instructions to honor the task force’s principles will do just that.
> /This editorial first appeared in the Albuquerque Journal. It was
> written by members of the editorial board and is unsigned as it
> represents the opinion of the newspaper rather than the writers./
>
>
>
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>
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> --
> George M. Richmond
> 152 Juniper Hill Road, NE
> Albuquerque, NM 87122-1913
>
> C: 505-280-2105
> E:geomrich1 at comcast.net <mailto:geomrich1 at comcast.net>
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--
George M. Richmond
152 Juniper Hill Road, NE
Albuquerque, NM 87122-1913
C: 505-280-2105
E:geomrich1 at comcast.net
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