Thread by @redistrictAZ

Wondering what the @ArizonaIRC talked about the last few days?
Here's the link to transcripts though yesterday: tinyurl.com/IRCtranscripts

A few highlights 1) Cs York and Mehl on the Latino Coalition and 2) C. Mehl on CD6 in Tucson.

1) C. York: "Well, I guess my last comment is that we continue to get letters from the public that are convenient when we need them, it seems. Be it a Mayor, or a city council, and in this case, the Latino coalition sent us yesterday afternoon their new desired outcome

for the West Valley. And I just find it odd that all of a sudden we're considering that now that we've been looking at this for so long."

C. Mehl: "In the big picture we've taken we've taken very, very seriously the input from the Latino coalition.

But the number of different ways they've drawn it shows the reality that it's not specifically how these areas are drawn, but do we have successful districts when we're done? And the fact that the lines move a little bit here or there from whatever suggestion

they've most recently made is not the relevant point. The relevant point is: have we combined communities of interest properly? have we created districts that we can, that people are going to be, well represented in? And I think that we have successfully done that."

Editor's Note: Voters protected by the federal Voting Rights Act are not the same thing as a community of interest. In the eyes of the law - federal redistircting law specifically, these voters have protected rights. Commuities of interest do not.

Now 2) Com. Mehl on CD 6 (12/18):
I've spent over 50 years in Pima County; I love Tucson. It's been a great place to live. I care a lot about what happens in Tucson.
And the things I'm going to suggest are not compromise proposals.

They're really going to be proposals based on what I know to be the right thing to do for the state of Arizona, for Pima County.

The key issue with D 6 is where it's going to end up within Tucson and
how do you divide Tucson? Frankly, I have been...

There are numerous maps that have been submitted that take D 7 out very far East into Tucson - out to Cole, out to Cave Croft, out to Wilmont. And I've had a lot of lobbying by people to try to do that.

The proposal that I had to go to Alvernon and drop down is very much a compromise proposal itself.

And the idea that we want to hit the University community combined with downtown Tucson is a proper idea. It's a proper community of interest.

But factually speaking drawing a line at Campbell doesn't do that. It would be like saying, let's take the University of Arizona and put it in with downtown Tucson, but in fact, you say those words, but you draw a line through the middle of the campus and only put half of it.

That's what we're doing with this community of interest..
Some of the most significant neighborhoods that are a huge part of the University community are east of Campbell. 50 years ago when the university was a third the size it is today, I lived on Maple Avenue, Maple Street,

just east of Campbell. I then moved to a home on 3rd St., near Country Club.

East of the university has grown three times since I've been there. The university community has expanded dramatically to the East.

The president of the University, he lives east of Campbell. It's a nonsensical to suggest that by drawing a line at Campbell you've included, the university community.

Alvernon is the minimum to the east, that makes sense for that line and so I would take a very strong position that that's where the boundary should go to.