Dallas City Council Redistricting Process Report

(The plan below was updated 5-13-11 and that plan is being submitted formally to the Commission. That final plan can be seen at http://dallasredistricting2011.blogspot.com/

The plan below is left here for anyone interested in the evolution of the final plan.)

=================================

The first Dallas City Council Redistricting Committee meeting with the public was 04/26/2011 and went well. About 12 speakers all said basically the same thing: Do Not split my community/do not gerrymander.

Today, after two hours on the Dallas City Council Redistricting Computers, the following initial and very crude map was made:

Please just click on this image to see a larger copy.  This is ONLY a draft and needs very much work.

Here is an example of the type of statistics that are produced, and change every time you move population from one district to another.

The above spreadsheet only has data for five of the districts which is a very crude estimate. This is the type data that changes by the minute as you work on your version of the Dallas City Council District maps changing district lines.  Go to City Hall and give it a try!  Help redesign Dallas to be an ever greater city!  See information on the process at http://dallascityhall.com/council_briefings/briefings0810/2011Redistricting_CouncilBriefingFinal_08042010.pdf
The last page at this link has the details on the computers in Dallas City Hall Room L1AN.  To schedule an appointment just call the Dallas Redistricting offices at 214-670-5417. The official Dallas City Hall Redistricting web site, complete with a multitude of maps, is at http://www.dallascityhall.com/Redistricting/maps.html

As Dallas City Council Redistricting process evolves we have a priceless lesson for our students in democracy.

These postings on Redistricting will now, 4-30-2011, be moved to a site dedicated to redistricting. The issues of expanding the high school graduation rate should not loose importance or be confused with redistricting. Go to  http://dallasredistricting2011.blogspot.com/ to see more postings on Redistricting for Dallas City Council.
===========================================
The History of Dallas continues to unfold and provides for our Dallas ISD students a priceless lesson in democracy. Like all cities, Dallas has a history of the unequal distribution of power with minorities and the poor being generally under-represented in positions of power. With the greater transparency being provided to processes such as redistricting, that lack of balance is slowly disappearing.  You must make your own judgements as to how far we have yet to go.  Here is a demographic spreadsheet on the current Dallas City Council makeup and how it corresponds to the demographic makeup of Dallas as reflected in the most recent census:

Here is a second spreadsheet only counting the Dallas City population for those age 18 and above.

If you see an error in either of these spreadsheets please do not hesitate to email bbetzen@aol.com.  Accuracy is critical. The data from which these spreadsheets are made is from http://www.dfwinfo.com/ris/census/2010/PL.asp?geo=city&area=19000 .

Unless there are errors in the above spreadsheets, the simple conclusion is that the past decades growth in our Hispanic residents in Dallas has led to a significant imbalance on the Dallas City Council makeup. While that imbalance must be corrected in the redistricting process, unnecessary gerrymandering for partisan purposes will only be counterproductive as has been documented at http://www.studentmotivation.org/GerrymanderedDallas/.  We must achive balance without risking the breaking up of our communities of interest.   See Texans for Redistricting Reform and this video on youtube produced by the Tea Party in support of A. J. Pate and his methods that minimize gerrymandering, voter confusion, and the resulting voter apathy, while also meeting the Voting Rights Act requirements at the same time.

A report from the Texas House, 11:00 AM, April 1, 2011

It is a sad day in Texas History to be watching HB 1 slowly move through amendments toward passage. The testimony is heart rending as a minority of legislators work to stop the process of cutting services to public school children, the elderly, and the disabled. 

Many groups representing the elderly, the frail, the handicapped, and school children, are all walking about in the halls of the capitol.  A few are here in the galleries. But a large group, almost 90% men, all in suits, are standing outside the House chambers in the lobby.  I presume they are lobbyists. It appears they may hold the power, not the other groups walking about the capitol mentioned above.