After walking fully around the building to find an open door (which was for some reason not the one in front of the actual entrance to the auditorium) I'm here at Nash County Community College for tonight's Joint Redistricting Committee public hearing! 
I believe I saw Rep. Linda Cooper-Suggs in the parking lot but I don't see any legislators in the room as of yet.
Sen. Carl Ford is leading the meeting.
Barbara Detonio (?) - I cannot hear what she is saying at all. I'm going to move closer to the front.
She's saying something about environmental concerns. I am in the 4th row and I still can't hear.
Michael Bale (?) asks the committee to consider compactness, not split precincts, and asks for cities and towns like Goldsboro and Wilson not to be split for partisan reasons but along community lines if necessary
Angeline Echeverria asks that her community of immigrants be kept together - the community is along Capital Blvd and New Hope Church Rd in Raleigh.
She sites lack of affordable housing as a big issue for this community and asks that gentrifying communities be kept together in a single district.
Caitlin Metzger of Durham - urges expansion of the redistricting process and wants draft maps to come out in time for substantive public comment.
She asks for communities of interest and especially historically Black communities and colleges to be respected and kept together. She also asks for hearings to be live streamed and online comments to be released publicly
Gerald Branch says all eyes will be on the committee
Max asks that Black voters not be packed and racially gerrymandered.
Larry Austin (?) - the audio is terrible so it's hard to catch everything - he asks the committee not to split precincts as this is a source of confusion for voters
Rick Horner, fmr. state Senator brings up county clusters - specifically Nash and Wilson being paired. He asks that certain precincts be joined to a district in Wilson rather than others.
Next speaker says that litigation on redistricting circumvents the state constitution (???) Also praises the process and criteria and says that Republicans should maintain current majorities
Robby Davis, chair of Nash board of commissioners, says the county is purple and the board is evenly split between the parties.
He asks the committee to make the process fair and simple and immune to litigation. He asks that potential candidate addresses not be used in drawing districts.
George Leach from Wilson Co. He says that the legislature has strayed from equal representation in favor of partisanship. He says that if maps were fair communities of color would be supported and all NCians would have a voice.
He asks the committee to exclude consideration of incumbent addresses
Some dude from the John Locke Foundation. Praises the exclusion of racial and political data. He says that county groupings already constrain district drawing to the extent that districts are predictable.
He lists some of the stable county clusters and shows a picture of the possible Senate (I think) districts for Nash and Wilson.
Pete Armstrong of Rocky Mount asks for his city to be kept whole in a single district (I believe he means at all levels of the maps)
He also calls out the fact that there will only be one hearing after proposed maps as appalling
Melanie, president of the local LWV, from Edgecombe - she says that districts that split the part of Rocky Mount in Edgecombe from the part in Nash doesn’t serve local people and creates division.
Marcus Thompson from Democracy NC asks for more public hearings at times when working people can attend and with a virtual option.
He also says it's vital to have hearings after maps are drawn. He says that use of race is necessary to protect the voting rights of people of color
He also asks for an independent commission.
Gary Boose (?) of Franklin County - not hearing him well - he says that the process will not be in full public view and Republicans will draw maps in secret. He points out that the criteria from the 2019 court order is not the same as the current criteria
Kyle Johnson of Rocky Mount says he's disappointed with a state government that demolishes democracy. He hopes that the committee will do what is best for the whole of the people in our state.
Sydney Meeks, an official with the Nash County Democratic party. She cites the Bible and says that gerrymandering and segregation are the same and asks for fair maps.
Next speaker says he's concerned about the direcof our state - he says that gerrymandering was used against Black people in the past and he doesn't want us to go back to that place
Next speaker asks how redistricting will affect Eastern NC which has already been targeted for gerrymandering
Nick Blanken, running for a house seat in Wilson. Asks that maps are drawn so everyone in the community feels represented.
Terry from Nash County asks the committee to make whatever process they carry out open and transparent - he asks that the committee not hide anything from the citizens that would embarrass them if it was made public
Next speaker from Wilson - I'm not sure I understand but it's something about resources for seniors
She says that when she votes she wants to feel like she makes a difference - her name is Christine Adams
The next speaker comes with an interpreter and gives her comment in Spanish - she is using this moment to emphasize the importance of interpretation services at these events
She says that her community needs representation that serves their needs and hopes the committee is truly listening to people.
She says that by not providing interpretation services the committee is pushing her community towards segregation.
Next speaker Kelby Hicks was a student at NCA&T when it was split by previous Congressional maps. He says the redistricting criteria are inadequate and transparency is lacking.
He asks for independent non-partisan redistricting.
Another speaker with an interpreter asks for the fair distribution of resources to the Hispanic community in Nash County
He says that he's talking about resources like Healthcare and education. And also says that his community is contributing to our state and has the right to interpretation services
Alonzo Lyons asks for everyone to be represented fairly because the maps will impact people for the next 10 years.
With that Sen. Ford closes the hearing
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