Thread by @bribrough

Getting started here in Durham at the redistricting committee. Follow along for my best attempt at live tweeting it!

Sens. John Corbett, Paul Newton, Natalie Murdock, Wiley Nickel, Sanderson, Mike Woodard, and Reps Vernetta Alston, Rosa Gill, Terry Garrison, Cynthia Ball, Alison Dahl, Zack Hawkins, Pricey Harrison, Marcia Morey, Robert Reives are here.

Ann from Durham says districts should be compact, not split communities. Lives in Hope Valley Farm since the 80’s. Has voted in 5 different locations. Don’t split precincts, Do not pack Black voters or Dem voters.

Veronica Robinson of the Durham Committee on the Affairs of Black People. Mostly has questions. Where are the maps? Will maps be ready in time to take feedback from the community?

Annette Rice from Durham: Speaking on behalf of 5 grandchildren. Wants to see the maps so she can comment on them.

Tom from Orange County Hopes redistricting will reflect the number of voters in each party. Wants transparency in entire process. Another round of hearings after maps.

Lauren, a community leader for 20 years works with low-income families. Conditions are not good. Wants better resources and interpretation services for her community.

Gino Nuzzolino from SCSJ demands Fair, timely, inclusive, transparent process. This is a sham process designed to make it difficult for the public to take part. No live stream - even Texas has provided this! Wants accessible hearings after draft maps.

Vickie Lee Parker, NC Business Council. Gerrymandering is bad for small businesses - especially when a small biz owner has one Rep for their home and a different one for their Biz. This is bad for our economy and we urge you to have fair and transparent representation.

Elizabeth Sbrocco of Durham: has been in 3 different congressional districts at same address for 9 years. Changing lines confuses people. Keep counties, precincts whole, and make districts compact. Choose county groupings that best equalize the pops. Opp to comment on draft maps

Jennifer Bremer, Orange County, asks that committee Share who is working on maps when, and make maps available to the general public as quickly as possible in computer-readable form. Make Public comments available at the end of each business day in a google spreadsheet.

Susan B Mclanahan of Orange County says there should be 26 hearings after draft maps are drawn. Share the complete data and shape files used to draw the maps. This will be a test whether you mean what you say when you say you’re committed to a transparent process.

Rev. Lucas of Durham: If racism dissipates, more people will follow the Republican party. Lines have consequences.

Ryan Jenkins of Durham: Maps need to be drawn by nonpartisan commission. Needs more listening sessions after draft maps.

Angel, who says he represents the Latino community. There should be more diversity in these committees. I hope that what you do is best for the people.

Gary Foureman of Durham has lived in Durham since 70’s. Asks for proportional representation.

Jill Maretins of Wake County, Ex-republican now registered as Unaffiliated. Asking for transparency in this process, consultants you engage, and the criteria. Keep communities of common interest whole, compactness, and equal representation. Mentions "map nerd" map as being good.

Prof David Florence of Durham. Just found out about this meeting today. Business owner. Has a political think tank called Consensus, and he wants to work for you!

Nicholas, civics teacher, member of the NCAE: Longtime civics teacher. This system makes my job harder when student look at maps and draw the reasonable conclusion that their votes don’t matter. Maps should keep schools in the same attendance zones in the same districts.

Namasheena Burns, Durham Commissionaer: Supports transparency measures. We need additional hearings. More people should be in the room when maps are drawn. Non-partisan map drawings. Stop drawing political maps at the expense of communities of color.

John Hollingsworth of Durham. Directs comments to elected Dems and constituents because Republicans won’t listen anyway. Suggests making it impossible to gerrymander by removing all human interference in the process. Let computers draw the districts.

Nancy McLean of Durham: Gerrymandering undermines principal of one person one vote. Tech makes gerrymandering worse and leads to arch-polarization. Herpes polls better than gerrymandering.

Diane Hourigan of Durham: Durham experiencing growth. Needs of Durham are totally different than rural areas. Used climate data to show how this is a community of interest. Durham needs to be in a district with similar needs. Hold hearings after drafts released.

Gary Whitford applauds GA for not using racial or partisan data.

James Ramsey of Durham hopes new districts are fair from the start. Wants independent commission. NC is a purple state. Maps should reflect that. Don’t pack minority or one party’s voters.

Jen Alexander asks for redistricting commission. Asks legislators to put masks back on because her children can’t be vaxxed.

Nathan Click, Business owner, veteran, father of 4. Sister doesnt vote because she doesn’t think it counts. This GA through gerrymandering has stolen the voice of the people. Put people before partisan interests.

Someone reading a comment from Durham County Commissioner Nida Allam: keep Durham whole, honor voting rights act, have another round of hearings after draft maps are released.

David Dixon of Durham says he works with Dem party and has consistently worked against racist gerrymandering. There is an illusion of bi-partisanship. Clear that Republicans don’t want to work with their Dem colleagues. Put people over partisanship

Aylett Colston: Wake County will be divided in congressional and legislative maps. GA should consider racial data in an open and transparent way to ensure minority voters can elect the rep of their choice. Communities of interest must be considered.

Gerald Givens, leader of Raleigh Apex NAACP: Gerrymandering limits influence of people of color where they work, live and play. Voting x representation x taxes = democracy. NAACP is prepared and on guard to challenge unconstitutional redistricting.

Gregory Herslaugh of Durham, works with Jonathan Mattingly at Duke. Applauds decision not to use partisan data. This contributes to responsiveness. Will be analyzing maps and will share their findings.

Claudia Koonz of Orange County: NC gerrymandering is embarrassing. She studies what happens when citizens lose faith in their democracy. It leads to cynicism which breeds incompetence. Requests hearing after draft maps and independent commission.

Lenora Richard, LWV, Durham - More hearings, especially after draft maps. More transparency and public input.

The internet in the basement of Durham Tech was iffy, so this is more of a later tweet than a live tweet thread. I know I'm spelling some names wrong, please correct if you know better!

Ivan Almonte, a community organizer representing working class people in Durham. Says low income families are being displaced, even essential workers. Asks for more hearings where impacted people live, and provide interpretation services.

Melody Feinburg suggests 1) Timeline should be made public, 2) should be ample time for comment at each stage of process, and 3) districts should be as representative of the state as possible.

Caitlin Metzguer of Durham says we need more time to view draft maps. Move the primary so we can have more time for a good process. Protect Black and Brown neighborhoods and all campus communities in new maps.

Brenda Pollard of Durham implores the committee to listen to the people who are speaking. Says if you listen, you’re the leadership. What you’ve heard tonight is remarkable and it’s Democracy.

Sholandra Greenlee: Lives in East Durham between HWY 98 and Mineral Springs. Keep my city and county together. It's one community. Wife, mother, business owner. Representation is a must for our children’s future. Says it's like math class - show me your work.

Adam Krimer. Transparency - Important to see how the sausage gets made, especially sinece in redistricting, we are the meat that goes into the grinder. Mentions guy from Durham who designed a fair map in 4 hours. “If we want to go to a new destination we need to build new roads”

Kate Fellman, Durham, ED of You Can Vote: Serves 43 counties, nonpartisan work registering and educating voters. When rules keep changing it is difficult to educate voters. UNA voters are second largest block in NC. Draw fair maps so UNA voters are represented too.

Anderson Clayton, Chair of Person County Dems. Had to drive 55 min to comment. Rural voters are being left out of this process. Rural voters matter. Don’t break up universities. Young voters are paying attention. We’re watching you and will be voting.

Dr. Thomas Jeffries, Wake County. Diversity is what makes us beautiful. End gerrymandering.

Aliana Ramos of Durham. What about UNA voters. Wants hearings after maps, and virtual hearings. Including incumbent residences bakes in gerrymandering. Republicans are the minority party and are overrepresented in the legislature and congressional delegation.

Beverly Kowalic of Orange County: Respect one person one vote. Make proposed maps available online. More public hearings after draft maps.

Floyd McKissick of Durham: Be a roadmap for other states. Keep counties whole, draw compact maps, respect communities of interest. Do a racially polarized voting study. Try NOT using incumbent addresses and let’s just see what it looks like. Keep Chatham and Lee counties whole.

Kyle Brazile of Durham: Process needs more accessibility, language interpretation, Criticizes criteria process and substance. Criteria which does not allow racial data may have a disparate impact on communities of color. Asks for more hearings, and virtual options.

Renee Miller, Pres. of Western Wake Republican Club. One of maybe 2 Republicans to speak tonight. Concerned that only 1 person in wake delegation represents conservatives. Asks for compact, competitive districts at all levels of government. Minimize opportunity for legal action.

Lee Mortimer of Durham: Wants proportional representation in congressional delegation. Says Republicans don’t have to do anything underhanded, and they’ll still be in control.

Karen Ziegler of Durham: Moved that so many people are here, when we’ve been told that this won’t matter. This is a pivotal moment for our Democracy. Make draft maps available w/ full data and let people observe what you were doing. One hearing after we see maps is not enough.

Claire Paulson, of Carrboro and CH communities. Community is defined by UNC. These communities should be kept whole. And keep all universities together. More hearings after maps, should offer remote options and include counties left out of first round.

John Leonard of Cary: Wants a commission that: Includes diverse experts and citizens to review maps, include legislature, set strict rules, do not allow use of party data or partisan objectives, use fair voting rules, make maps final with non-partisan commission votes.

Joe Kapowski of Chapel Hill wants proportional representation: 8 Dems, 6 Republicans. Points out that almost everyone here dislikes what the committee has done.

Rev. T. Anthony Spearman: Evisceration of the VRA has hurt my people. Please use section 2 to make sure these maps are drawn comprehensively.

Marino Leone, Duke Law student: Asks if committee is proud of what it's doing, calls it cheating. Says stuff like this makes it hard to sell NC to people. Says if they want votes, they need better ideas.

And with that, the Durham redistricting hearing concludes. Tomorrow night, @lekhashupeck will be live tweeting from Pitt County starting at 3pm, I'll be in Alamance at 5pm. #redistricting #FairMaps #FairMapsNC #ncga #ncpol #yourvoicematters #fairmapsforall

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