Thread by @lekhashupeck

We are in Cullowhee - an hour away from the closest major city in this region, Asheville - for the 5:00pm public redistricting hearing!

We're a little early but I'll be live tweeting the hearing once it starts

10 minutes to go and the room has filled up

Sen. Chuck Edwards opens the meeting.

Edwards lauds the process - saying that we are all so lucky to have a say in this process 🙃

Jake Quinn is called first. From Buncombe County - challenges legislators to draw maps that won't beg for judicial review. Excorcise the ghost of Dr. Hofeller.

Mentions the millions lost defending previous maps. Legitimacy of democracy hinges on the fairness of the process.

Jane Koenig of Jackson County - NC-11 is one of the largest Congressional districts, a lot of territory for one person to cover well.

She says that population growth will mean the district has to change - McDowell County or the part of Avery County in the district should be removed

Graham McGuffick (?) of Asheville represents the Fire Madison PAC - cites the previous splitting of Buncombe out of the West. Says even though that's changed the district is still gerrymandered.

Myrtle Schrader of Cullowhee asks the committee not to split Jackson or any of the other Western counties. Asks for a fair process the voters can trust.

Roy Osborne of Cullowhee says that today is the perfect time to use non-partisan committees and analysts to draw the maps. He asks the committee to create competitive districts for truly representative democracy

Nina Tovish says democracy depends on people's trust and cannot survive if voters feel disenfranchised. She asks for an open and impartial process and a non-partisan commission.

Matt Balance, chair of NC-11 Democrats and from Henderson County. Asks for the western counties to be kept whole. The split in Rutherford County in the Congressional. The splits in Haywood and Buncombe in the state maps.

Kathleen Barnes secretary of Transylvania NAACP. She is already concerned about the process - no provision was made for live streaming even during COVID. Also the location is inaccessible to most of the public especially working voters.

She says that we can't believe that committee members have not already drawn maps - and it's a huge indicator of a flawed process that there is no public hearing scheduled for after the maps are released

CJ Greenland - NC-11 will need to be redrawn. Asks for Polk, MacDowell and Rutherford to be removed and Watauga added because of shared experiences with tourism and the Universities in each. This would also meet the ideal population.

Daniel Perlmutter of Jackson County says that districts should take into account the special features of the different regions. He wants UNC-A and the other community colleges in the area to be kept whole by keeping Buncombe whole.

Cynthia Faircloth Smith of Jackson County talks about the importance of keeping Jackson County whole - talks about the commonalities between North and south Jackson County

(People in the mountains are killing it with awesome testimony rn)

Ted Carr of Haywood says that he thinks the Census should be invalid because it didn't distinguish between citizens and "illegals" and this disadvantages western communities. He also asks for redistricting criteria to stay the same

Cody Lewis chair of Jackson County Democrats - asks for Jackson County to be kept whole.

Sharon Withrow of the LWV says she had to take time off of work and drive an hour to the hearing. She says that districts should avoid splitting cities, counties, and communities of interest like colleges and universities. Gives the example of UNC-A being split between two dorms

She also asks for public hearings after draft maps are released.

Avram Friedman of the Jackson County NAACP says that the current districts created an unrepresentative division of power. Says it's time to end the injustice of gerrymandering. Says other states have non-partisan commissions and we could have one as well.

Cameron Lail of Haywood County asks the committee to make sure his vote counts. Recommends an independent redistricting process.

Leona Witchard of the LWV and from Chapel Hill (!) advocates for fair districts, transparency, and public input. Also asks for hearings after the draft maps are released.

Jane Yokoyama from Asheville, Senate 49, House 116. Volunteers with @ncaatogether - asks for Buncombe County to be kept whole in the Congressional district, not split colleges and universities or smaller cities.

Talks about the fact that the process is inaccessible to most people.

Karen Smith of NC-11 Democrats from Macon County. Asks for more hearings and a virtual option bc COVID. Asks for the committee to put Waynesville whole in district 118. Asks not to split any of the urban areas.

She gives a ton more specifics but it's hard for me to keep up.

Sharon Ramsey of Macon County wants more hearings scheduled, a website for process information, a non-partisan commission, virtual hearings. Let us see proposed maps. Don't split cities, towns, or universities.

Levi Sweat a freshman at WCU and representing the student democracy coalition. Says that 13 hearings are not enough, they are in the middle of the day, in the middle of the worn week, and before proposed maps are released.

Asks us to consider who is missing - working people, elderly bc COVID, people who can't travel this far.

Bo Hess is a candidate for NC- asks for competitive, free, and fair elections. Asks if we are really a democracy if one party can manipulate lines to stay in power.

Jean Tunnell member of Jackson County Democrats and Jackson NAACP. Elections are supposed to represent the will of all. Asks for more hearings and fair and transparent process.

Asks committee to have all drawing of maps done in public view, disclose any third parties involved. Mentions H437, a reform bill.

Jeff Grohe of Fletcher NC. Says the state has grown. Says his group is trying to rein in federal government using Article 5 of the constitution. Says independent commission will not solve the problem.

Tells us (Eric Holder's group) to stay out of the state [sorry but I live here bro and I'm not going anywhere] and says Common Cause is Soros funded [antisemitic dog whistle]

Susanne Kiemmick asks that the committee adheres to the criteria they set banning racial and partisan data, and include an explanation of why lines were drawn how they were in and proposed maps

Gerard Stamm from Candler asks for fair elections. If redistricting is not actually impartial and non-partisan it guarantees gerrymandering.

Asks for hearings after maps are drawn and to have access to all online comments.

Robert Thornton asks why this meeting was not adequately publicized and without adequate signs and directions - that already casts doubt on the process. Asks for counties to be kept whole. Also says there should have been a virtual option and it should have been on public TV.

Amanda Huber of Buncombe County is campaign manager for a candidate for NC-11 - says she's never been able to vote in a non-gerrymandered local election.

Aaron Littlefield says that he is a registered Republican but is still concerned with communities of interest staying whole and that includes counties. Is against Watauga being in NC-11. Also doesn't want Polk or Rutherford.

John Johnson of Buncombe County thinks that NC-11 is too large, wants more hearings including after proposed maps and more transparency

Dr. Arielle Emmett wants to talk about the cost of gerrymandering. She says the state of education and of the working poor is disturbing. Says giving that money to private schools is unacceptable.

She also mentions the fact that turning down Medicaid leaves 600,000 without health insurance.

Rosalind Storer starts her comment in Spanish and then gives interpretation. She's a member of the Transylvania NAACP where she works to protect the votes of Black and Hispanic people. Gerrymandering hurts those communities.

Carolyn Cagle of Jackson County asks for counties to be kept whole in districts. Cherokee, Clay, Graham and Macon. Swain, Jackson, and Transylvania. These are counties she thinks should go together.

Jacqueline Jenkins says that other people said what she wanted to say - also asks for a virtual option for hearings due to the pandemic. Says she's questioning the whole process because it's not transparent.

Also says no accommodations were made for Spanish or Cherokee speakers or the hearing impaired. Says that the process is a slap in the face of democracy.

Darlene Azarmey from Buncombe, Buckeye Cove area. She used to share a congressional district with her mother all the way in Lincolnton. Allowing politicians to draw their own maps is like letting foxes mind the henhouse.

She asks race not to be considered, and communities of interest to be respected. Also asks the committee not to split college campuses. Number of hearings is unacceptable and there need to be hearings after proposed maps.

Katie Dean is a candidate for NC-11 (third one to show up in some way) says gerrymandering has led to the current extremism in politics. Also keeps resources like broadband, healthcare from reaching western NC.

Jennifer Kinep from Macon County asks for counties to be kept whole. Says local issues like tourism have driven housing to become unaffordable - areas should be kept together to solve those problems. Also asks for hearings after proposed maps.

Laila Teved from Bryson City in Swain County - one of the poorest counties in the state. Talks about the rise of unaffiliated voters - more in western NC than any other region in the country.

She asks the committee not to throw away the opportunity to draw fair districts.

Sergio Fernandez is the ED of the Latino Advocacy Coalition in Henderson County. Says more than 1 million Latino people live in the state. Says he would love to see someone who looks like him in the state legislature.

Offers to have the rest of the hearings live streamed with Spanish interpretation for no cost. Sen. Ford seems to thank him for the suggestion and wave it off?

Sergio says he will be in Charlotte tomorrow with the same offer.

Tom Downing of Cullowhee said he and his wife moved to the state because of the fair progressive policies it had then. He says he will leave the state when he retires if the state does not go back to the state they moved to.

He asks legislators to go to an elementary school social studies class, explain what you're doing, and see what they say. Kids understand fairness.

Catherine Carter of Cullowhee wants an independent commission. Says the gerrymandering is an expensive national embarrassment. Advocates for the legislature to pass the Fair Maps Act. Says the supposedly colorblind redistricting dilutes POC votes while pretending it doesn't

Brian Gastel of Jackson County says he hopes that redistricting will better represent the statewide demographics and voter preferences. Gerrymandering doesn't serve the party in power either because it means they don't meet their constituents' needs.

Angelica Wind of Buncombe is a daughter of farmworkers who did not have a voice in the policies that affected them. She says it's so important that people understand they all have a voice. Her parents came here because of the rights that protected those voices

Gail Woody of the Jackson County Board of Commissioners. Asks for an open and transparent process. Keep counties whole.

Christina Vasquez says she wants to protect the quality of life that attracted people to the state. The environment is an important issue and we need people in the state house who acknowledge that. She ran for NCGA but her district was so gerrymandered she didn't have a chance

Chris Tabor from Silva - NAACP and Democratic Women of Jackson County - we need to bring back integrity to the process. Asks for more hearing with a virtual option

William Merle of Buncombe County is an independent voter. Asks the people to fight gerrymandering in our country.

Asks for an independent commission and to put democratic principles first - not doing this makes a mockery of our democracy.

David Rhode of Henderson County thanks the NCGA for their commitment to fair and free elections. Says people need to get away from partisan politics. Asks for all colleges and universities to have a polling place on site on election day.

Michelle Woodhouse says people drove here because they care about what's happening. She says that most voters will come from urban areas in the next election. Not enough people are voting. Says she has confidence that the NCGA will draw fair maps.

Says that the map has nothing to do with the outcome of elections.

That ends the list of speakers. Sen. Ford thanks the other legislators and closes out the meetings. Says there is a website with redistricting information and online comment is available.

The meeting is adjourned.