Redistricting Apathy

by: deciminyan

Thu Sep 22, 2011 at 04:17:46 PM EDT

Held in a mostly-empty auditorium on the Rutgers-Camden campus, the hearings were chaired by Rutgers-Newark Law School Dean and former State Attorney General John Farmer, Jr . On the stage, Farmer was flanked by the six Democratic and six Republican members of the Commission.

The half dozen witnesses were comprised of politicians, gadflies, and a solitary union leader. There were no representatives from the minority communities or even the ubiquitous Tea Party.

Perhaps the reason for the lack of public input was the fact that the venue was not formally announced until after Blue Jersey poked the Commission on Tuesday of this week, and the meeting was held during working hours.

While the rules for Congressional redistricting are generally stricter than those for the legislature, keep in mind that the work that this Commission does will determine district boundaries for the next five Congressional election cycles. And while redistricting probably won't correct the gender imbalance in our Congressional delegation, the lines that are drawn will have a big impact on minority representation.

Let's hope for a better turnout at the October 11 sessions in Newark and New Brunswick. The commission's web site is njredistrictingcommission.org.

Dean Farmer spoke with Blue Jersey after the session. His comments are below the fold.