Here at Pitt Community College in Winterville for the redistricting public hearing! Let's hope legislators obey the signs this time 🙄 
With 5 minutes to go the hearing room is filling up.
Omg they're wearing masks!
First speaker says she's disappointed that they picked 3pm - she's here on her lunch break that she delayed so she could be here.
She wants districts to be drawn on a non-partisan basis.
Rep. Cooper-Suggs, Humphrey, Smith, and Farkas and Sen. Don Davis are here.
Emily Keel of Martin County asks for her county to be kept whole at all levels of districts - Congressional and state legislative. She talks about the factors that make her rural community tight knit and cohesive.
She also asks for hearings around the state after proposed maps
Rev. Robinson Green of Greenville - she worked with Delta Sigma Theta sorority to get a full Census count. She asks the committee to be respectful of the people of our state in drawing districts
The Amexcan organizer asks for language equity in the hearings and adequate notice for hearings so the Spanish speaking community can participate
Cindy from Greenville says that the public cares about transparent redistricting and wants a process that does not consider partisan data or incumbent addresses.
She says that people are tired of hearing the excuse from Republicans for gerrymandering that "Democrats did it first"
She says we have the tools to do non-partisan redistricting that respects communities
Chris Mansfield says that rural communities lag behind in education, healthcare access, and infrastructure. He says that gerrymandering has created this problem.
He says he was able to draw a congressional map that didn't Crack apart communities
The next speaker says that certain communities have been disenfranchised by surgical gerrymandering - asks for fair districts
Linda Harper of Wayne County asks that all of Wayne County be put in district 1 (I'm assuming Congressional?) and says if population is needed Sampson county should be used because it is similar.
Carol Reyes (?) says the committee chose a bad day for this hearing - it's Yom Kippur
(I'm feeling some deep guilt for not observing today Tbh)
Lori Newman (?) of Pitt County asks for non-partisan, fair maps and an independent commission.
She also asks for neighborhoods and precincts to be kept whole.
She talks about the need for policy that deals with the effects of climate change that Eastern NC is suffering in the form of extreme weather
Next speaker says she drew a map (doesn't specify what districts) and asks that the committee keep communities and precincts whole and says that the area needs representation that deals with issues like flooding
Next speaker is from Delta Sigma Theta and Pitt NAACP - asks committee to be fair in drawing maps
Michael Schacter of Craven County says that having no proposed maps to look at is a real problem. Asks for maps to be non-partisan. Asks for a more accessible hearing tour after proposed maps with a virtual option
The historical Black Community near him has been split in previous state legislative districts - he goes into great detail
He was kind enough to give me a copy!
Next speaker says the bottom of Pitt County is split into a separate district from the rest of the county [this is due to the residence of US Rep Murphy] and asks that Pitt be kept whole in one Congressional district
Next speaker from NAACP from Craven County talks about the industry in the area and the needs of the county and asks that the county be paired in a district with similar county, not one that will overshadow it
Chris Suggs from Kinston - says his city has a unique culture and that it is necessary for communities like his to be kept together. He also says that the current hearing schedule is inadequate and inaccessible.
Angela Huggins of Pitt County board of commissioners - she thanks the community for coming to Pitt - but says as a private citizen she wants compact districts
Holden Spain (?) of Pitt County Republicans - asks for proposed maps to be published with sufficient time for the public to comment on them
Tom Best of Pitt County asks the committee to hold another hearing in Pitt after maps are proposed. As a former election official he asks for precincts to be kept whole.
He says split precincts cause confusion and demoralization of voters.
Next speaker says that the main issue with maps is partisanship over other things like communities. It's not fair to Crack and pack voters to decrease the influence of some and increase the influence of others
Don Ensley talks about communities of interest and explains what they are - says that COIs are the way communities tell their story. Says the timing of the hearings has excluded many people
Dandy Smith of Pitt County thanks the committee for the changes to the Congressional maps in 2019. She wants the 1st district to continue not to include places like Durham that is urban and much different and led to the neglect of the area
She also asks them to reduce splits in general
Marques Thompson asks for more hearings, hearings after maps are drawn, and a virtual option. For everyone here there is at least one other person who cares about the issue who wasn't able to come.
He says people are tired of the endless lawsuits - he says if you have good ideas you can still win on fair maps.
Next speaker says that the legislators need to be sent dictionaries so that they can look up the definition of equity. He says packing and cracking are the problem.
He cites the fact that Cooper v. Harris overturned districts as racial gerrymanders that used race as the predominant factor with no justification
Next speaker says it's time for redistricting to be different - NCians are tired of gerrymandering. There are no maps to react to which is a problem.
Mildred Council is a former local city council member and board of education member. She says in the past she was intentionally drawn out of her district when running for school board. She is also with Pitt County Democratic women.
She says she's been to three public hearings over the years and she's tired of it - she wants the committee to get it right this time
Dr. Brenda Fairfax
Organizer with Black Voters Matter here in his own capacity says that packing Black voters because they are likely to vote Democratic is an unfair stereotype.
He says that the county population means it can be whole in one Congressional district and Greenville should be kept whole in its own State Senate district.
She let me see her notes!
The chair is giving people the address of the redistricting page on the NCGA site and says info will be posted in a timely manner 🙄
The meeting is over.
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