Again? Sunshine State News details more suspect behavior from FairDistricts Florida & their Democratic allies re 2012 redistricting: the very epitome of a backroom deal -theirs! Is that why FairDistricts NEVER submitted a plan in November?

Again? Sunshine State News details even more suspect behavior from the folks at FairDistricts Florida and their Democratic allies re 2012 redistricting: the very epitome of a backroom deal -theirs! 
Is that why Fair Districts NEVER submitted a plan in November?


Coming fresh on the heels of my email and subsequent blog post of Tuesday the 17th, titled

Hypocrisy on FL Redistricting: Why FairDistricts Florida & Florida League of Women Voters are early contenders for this blog's Turkey of the Year Award -all talk, little action and no submitted maps before the legal deadline
http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2012/04/hypocrisy-on-fl-redistricting-why.html
and the rather stunning news Thursday from Peter Schorschsain at Saint Petersblog that showed how very suspect the judgement of someone at the top like Ellen Freidin (and her husband) were to even the appearance of impropriety... 


Saint Petersblog
Law firm of Fair Districts’ Freidin’s husband donates $500 to 3 FL Supr. Ct. justices before redistricting hearing
Posted by Peter Schorsch, April 19th, 2012
http://saintpetersblog.com/2012/04/law-firm-of-fair-districts-friedins-husband-donates-500-to-3-fl-supr-ct-justices-before-redistricting-hearing/
it's clear that the folks who, first, wanted my signature, and then months later, my vote -twice- are guilty of pulling a fraud all this time, despite their lofty-sounding rhetoric.


And now the specific details of that betrayal are starting to publicly emerge.


The total number of maps submitted by the public to the Florida Senate redistricting committee by the November 1st, 2011 5 p.m. deadline was 156.
Seriously, it's one thing to complain from the sidelines, but to remain on the sidelines and  submit ZERO actual plans to the state Senate to vote upon after you actually win a resounding victory from Florida voters with 63% of the vote?
What sort of geniuses do that?


Plus, in case you forgot the chronology, on January 27th, there was this bit of news regarding Senate Minority Leader Nan Rich from western Broward:
Rich decides not to file amendment for Dems redistricting map
http://miamiherald.typepad.com/nakedpolitics/2012/01/rich-decides-not-to-file-amendment-redistricting-map.html


Yes, this all sounds remarkably like someone who wins the war but then loses the peace.
It sounds suspiciously and clumsily Dan Gelber-like to me.


As I wrote here on Tuesday in that referenced blog post, the Republican-controlled Florida Legislature, thru the Senate Redistricting Comm. had a terrific information-filled website, a  Twitter feed and a YouTube Channel to share information, including clips from the actual redistricting meetings that were held around the state.


Conversely, today, April 22, 2012, when you go to YouTube and do a search for "Ellen Freidin," assuming that over a period of three years, there surely must be at least a few dozen or so videos of her that are at least 30-seconds or longer that have been posted there where she was at least one of the guests -if not the sole interview- of one of the dozens of TV stations in Florida, or even newspaper-affiliated blogs with a YouTube Channel -another area where the Miami Herald is MIA- guess what you find?

No video results for “"Ellen Freidin"”

Surprise!


On the plus side, because most of the videos that were shown as results for the Freidin search were from the Ellen DeGeneres Show, no matter how many times you do it, we were reminded once again of "Kristen Bell's Sloth Meltdown"
Yes, the lovely, talented and clearly quite-a-handful Miss Bell.







Sunshine State News

Democrats Tried to Hatch Back-Door 'Deal' on Redistricting, Don Gaetz Says

By Kenric Ward

Posted: April 21, 2012 3:55 AM

While publicly posturing for "fairness" in redistricting, a group of top Florida Democrats privately pushed for maps that would benefit party brass, according to documents obtained by Sunshine State News.

Read the rest of the amazing story at: 

http://www.sunshinestatenews.com/story/democrats-tried-hatch-backdoor-deal-redistricting-don-gaetz-says


Well, it's not like we weren't warned in advance, is it?


Nope, over two  years ago there were clear signs of what has come to pass.
Ellen Freidin was given the opportunity by the Florida Senate to try putting together maps according to the parameters of the two Amendments to the Florida Constitution that I voted fo, after urging their passage here on this blog many times.


As Bill Coterell's column below shows, she turned them down.
Earlier this year, they renewed that same offer
She turned them down again. 
So what are we left to think?


Redistricting proposals under fire

Legislators challenge FairDistricts Florida head to redraw district lines

By Bill Cotterell, Florida Capital Bureau

February 12, 2010

Florida's two most powerful legislators challenged the head of the FairDistricts Florida campaign Thursday to draw a legal congressional map under the terms the group's proposed constitutional amendment would require if passed.

Ellen Freidin, who chaired the petition campaign that put two constitutional amendments on the November ballot, declined the offer. Worn out by more than three hours of what she described as often rude questions, she accepted software and a batch of paperwork from the 2002 redistricting but said she won't bother trying to draw congressional lines that might suit the openly hostile House and Senate committees.

"Many of the members of this committee are very concerned about losing their opportunity to redraw the districts in 2012 in order to insure their own political perpetuation," she said. "I actually wasn't expecting to be treated quite as rudely as I think that I was treated, quite frankly, but I was expecting a lot of resistance."

FairDistrict's proposed amendments, on the ballot Nov. 2, would prohibit new congressional and legislative districts drawn to favor or handicap any political party or incumbent officeholders. Districts would have to be as nearly equal in population as practical, be compact and respect the boundaries of cities, counties and other communities as much as possible.

They would still be subject to minority-access rulings of the U.S. Supreme Court and the 1965 Voting Rights Act. But legislators would no longer be able to concentrate blacks, Hispanics and certain party members into a few districts.

Sen. Mike Haridopolos, R-Merritt Island, and Rep. Dean Cannon, R-Winter Park, offered to fly Freidin back to Tallahassee, give her access to House and Senate staff and provide any other data or help she needs to draw a sample congressional map.

"This is not rocket science," Freidin, a Miami lawyer, said at a joint meeting of the House and Senate committees. "This Legislature is totally capable of drawing maps with these standards."

Haridopolos and Cannon then pounced.

"We'll give you the software, a week, two weeks, if it's so easy to do," said Haridopolos. "You take the 2002 census data and draw us 25 congressional districts that meet your easy-to-reach criteria."

He added, "Theory is one thing, practice is another."

Freidin asked, "Are you suggesting that redistricting maps can be drawn simply by putting data into a computer?" She said it takes census data, voter registration numbers, performance data from past elections, public testimony by voters and "the collegial work of the legislative body" — none of which she could duplicate in an experiment.

"Will you do it or not?" asked Cannon.

"I don't have a Legislature to work with me on this," she replied. "I don't have public hearings."

Senate Minority Leader Al Lawson, D-Tallahassee, told Freidin he has been in the House or Senate through two remapping sessions, in 1992 and 2002, and that it would be impossible to protect minority districts without some "collusion" between the parties. He said the number of black members in the Legislature would decline if members were forbidden to consider party affiliation or incumbency when drawing district lines.

"I absolutely cannot say this more unequivocally," she replied. "There is not any reason to think this is going to impact negatively on minority representation."

She took the occasion to announce that the Florida State Conference of NAACP Branches has endorsed the two amendments.

"I know what took place at the table, at night, looking at maps," said Lawson. "We (Democrats) were in the majority then and when we drew them, we thought we were protecting Democrats, and they got defeated anyway."

More than two years later, it's clearly too late for Freiden, Gelber & Company to call a crisis management firm to save them.
They have met the enemy and it is themselves.
-----
http://miamiherald.typepad.com/nakedpolitics/florida-redistricting/


http://htpolitics.com/?s=redistricting


http://www.tampabay.com/blogs/the-buzz-florida-politics/category/buzz-tags/florida-redistricting


http://saintpetersblog.com/



www.floridaredistricting.org


http://mydistrictbuilder.wordpress.com/



http://www.capitaldatelineonline.com/


http://www.sunshinestatenews.com/


August 31, 2009 Buzz blog
http://www.tampabay.com/blogs/the-buzz-florida-politics/content/ellen-freidin-fair-districts-fla-no-democratic-scheme 

Florida's 2012 redistricting meetings in South Florida are only two months away, so where are the competing maps? Or the pre-event info meetings?

Do you know any more specifics about the upcoming legislative redistricting meetings in South Florida?

http://www.fairdistrictsnow.org/home/

http://www.floridaredistricting.org/

For instance, whether there will be any sort of PUBLIC informational meetings held in advance of the official meetings run by the Florida Senate -by public interest groups/elected officials/political party/activist groups- to 'educate' voters beforehand?

In other parts of the country, that'd be a no-brainer, but here, during the sweltering summer, well, not so much.

(Of course, in other states I could name, the legislative redistricting process takes place BEFORE summer ever starts in order to make sure that there are no schedule conflicts with work, family vacations and summer camp for children.

This seems like a novel concept to the folks running this show up in Tallahassee, who have set a deadline of June 18, 2012. Garbage in, garbage out!)

In any case, in my opinion, whether it's in Broward or Miami-Dade or even one in each county if one could hope for common sense, there'd be a well-organized meeting at a large facility where competing/prospective maps can be publicly shown so that South Florida residents know what's what and can see what the range of possibilities truly are.

Speaking of maps, seriously, on what map, exactly, is Davie centrally-located for Broward residents to attend their one-and only meeting?

Tuesday, August 16, 2011 10:00 a.m.- 1:00 p.m, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton

Tuesday, August 16, 2011 6:00- 9:00 p.m., Broward College, Davie campus

Wednesday, August 17, 2011 10:00 a.m-2:00 p.m., Miami Dade College, downtown Miami

Wednesday, August 17, 2011 6:00-9:00 p.m., FIU College of Law building, South Miami

Complete schedule is at http://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Redistricting/Hearings

(What's the back-up plan if there's a hurricane warning then?)

If you know of a pre-event informational meeting tied to these redistricting hearings, please let me know and I'll post it on the blog.

-----

Orlando Sentinel

Central Florida Political Pulse blog

FairDistricts leaders ask for changes in redistricting meetings

posted by khaughney on June, 14 2011 12:11 PM

Fair Districts, a grassroots group that successfully pushed for new constitutional provisions last year that dictate redistricting, is asking the Legislature to revamp the procedures it has set out for 26 redistricting hearings that are set to be held around the state this summer.

Read the rest of the story at

http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/news_politics/2011/06/fairdistricts-leaders-ask-for-changes-in-redistricting-meetings.html

-----

Orlando Sentinel

Central Florida Political Pulse blog

FairDistricts folks to offer their thoughts on redistricting

posted by bshaw on June, 13 2011 1:55 PM

A week from today — on Monday, June 20 — the Florida Legislature’s redistricting committee will be gin a series of public hearings that will take members all over the state by the time they end Sept. 1 in Clewiston.

Read the rest of the story at

http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/news_politics/2011/06/fairdistricts-folks-to-offer-their-thoughts-on-redistricting.html#more-25335

The Florida Independent

Transparency questions dog upcoming public redistricting hearings

By Cooper Levey-Baker

06.14.11 | 6:00 am

An “unprecedented” part of “the most open, transparent, interactive” redistricting process ever, or a “sham” designed by Florida lawmakers to placate the public while they work to draw new district lines to benefit themselves? That’s the question dogging the set of 26 public redistricting hearings scheduled by the state Legislature to kick off next week.

Read the rest of the story at

http://floridaindependent.com/33768/redistricting-transparency-public-hearings

South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Broward Politics blog

New districts affect South Florida clout, voters' ability to influence elections

By Anthony Man

June 12, 2011 09:40 AM

The numbers are proof positive. Broward and Palm Beach counties are about to lose some of their political muscle.

And that’s not all. Residents throughout the region could find themselves represented by far-away politicians they’ve never voted for and may never even have heard of.

Read the rest of the story at

http://weblogs.sun-sentinel.com/news/politics/broward/blog/2011/06/new_districts_affect_south_flo.html

Los Angeles Times

Map: How has your district been redrawn?

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-redistricting-map,0,6145644.htmlstory

Detroit FreePress

Politically speaking: How will the GOP draw new districts?

http://www.freep.com/article/20110612/OPINION05/106120446/Politically-speaking-How-will-GOP-draw-new-districts-?odyssey=mod|newswell|text|FRONTPAGE|p

New TV ad from FairDistrictsFlorida.org; FL-17 and Corrine Brown's FL-3 are embarrassing embodiment of what unchecked gerrymandering gets you

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BjqZDGQGu4I

-----

If passed, legislative districts would have to be contiguous and compact wherever possible, following pre-existing city and county boundaries.

This very simple TV ad is a nice rebuke to the pro-incumbent nonsense that has animated many of the newspaper articles and columns I've read the past few months, where reporters and columnists seem to foolishly imagine that they can explain the situation better with words, rather than a simple map -they can't.

They will NEVER be able to beat an accurate map for conveying the sheer preposterous nature of the way legislative districts are currently drawn by insiders.

But for some unfathomable reason, perhaps the epidemic of terrible news editing raging across the state's newspapers -with particular damage in South Florida- the simple act of displaying accurate representations of the districts is almost always missing from these stories and columns, even links to such on their newspaper websites and political blogs, despite how easy it is to show.
http://www.tampabay.com/blogs/the-buzz-florida-politics/2010/06/corrine-brown-and-mr-gerry-mandering.html

That's why I have taken it upon myself to actually provide links to these maps when I have chosen to comment on various news sites on this subject so that others can see them for themselves, absent the newspaper doing this basic thing.

A simple map of the districts is like cold water being tossed into the faces of folks like Rep, Corrine Brown, the erratic woman whose equally erratic and bizarre northeast Florida nine-county congressional district stretches from Jacksonville to north of Orlando, often only about the length of a few blocks for quite a distance.

Why was that done?
Simple -to keep her in Congress.

As I've written here many times before, it's the very same reason that FL-17, where I live and currently have Kendrick Meek as a rep in Washington for a few more days, was drawn up the way it was.
The CD snakes its way from Liberty City in Miami then goes northwest to Opa-Locka and then jumps across the Broward County line, including the part of Hallandale Beach that's west of U.S.-1.

Or, counter-intuitively, why the other part of Hallandale Beach, which includes the towering condos on the beach along State Road A1A, which are actually FARTHER AWAY from Debbie Wasserman-Schultz's FL-20 congressional base of support out in Pembroke Pines
than I am, STILL end up being represented by her instead of Meek.

The current FL-17 was drawn specifically to ensure that there were enough African-American voters in a Miami-based district so that Carrie Meek could win a Congressional seat -and stay in office indefinitely.
And in a tragic case of unintended consequences, give it to her son Kendrick as an inheritance.

This sort of chicanery and mutuality of interests among Democrats also ensured that liberal Jewish Democratic voters in SE Broward would largely be able to vote for someone else,
Someone NOT named Meek.

http://www.govtrack.us/congress/findyourreps.xpd?state=FL&district=17, http://www.govtrack.us/congress/findyourreps.xpd?state=FL&district=20

How gerrymandering sustains political dynasties
http://progreso-weekly.com/2/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1999:how-gerrymandering-sustains-political-dynasties&catid=34:our-pulse-florida&Itemid=53

Logically, FL-17 should include only Miami-Dade voters and should've always had a MUCH higher representation of Hispanic voters than it has, since they are the majority of citizens and voters in Miami-Dade County.
And yet it didn't, did it?

Perhaps once these common sense Amendments are passed, local and congressional legislative districts will FINALLY and accurately reflect the common sense realities of the mutuality of interests of citizens in compact districts, not merely be odd-shaped stains on a map to allow incumbents to get enough supporters to stay in office indefinitely.

This will surely be the last time that FL-17 looks the way it does now.
Adios and good riddance!

For more on combative Rep. Corrine Brown, please see:

Corrine Brown: Because This Senate Race Needs Some Crazy http://blogs.browardpalmbeach.com/juice/2009/06/corrine_brown_because_this_sen.php

Local radio host, Rep. Corrine Brown have an on-air shouting match
http://jacksonville.com/opinion/blog/403455/david-hunt/2010-06-10/girl-fight-or-we-saw-gerrymandering-hit-soft-spot


Opponent disputes Corrine Brown's district.
Documentary says boundaries formed by gerrymandering.
http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/2010-06-01/story/opponent-disputes-browns-district-gerrymandered

Scott Fortune - A Horribly Gerrymandered Congressional District



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2l4WUZ_lcE


Scott Fortune - Gerrymandering in Mt. Dora, Fla.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iXpxdmU7s54

See Scott Fortune's other eye-opening videos on gerrymandering in Florida at:
http://www.youtube.com/user/ScottFortune4U

Here's another mention of Brown from an excerpt of a recent email I received from the FairDistrictsFlorida.org folks, since I'm on their mailing list by choice.

--------Forwarded Message----------
From: Kelly Penton, Kelly.Penton@fairdistrictsflorida.org
Date: Thu, 21 Oct 2010 16:45:45 -0400 (EDT)
To: Jackie Lee, Jackie.Lee@fairdistrictsflorida.org
Subject: Say NO to self-interested politicians!


Have you seen FairDistricts’ television ad? Have you read that every major Florida newspaper is supporting Amendments 5 & 6? Have you heard about the latest polls that show we are on track to finally put an end to unfair redistricting?

Well, our opponents must have. The politicians, clinging to the luxury of picking their own voters, are burning up the airwaves trying to confuse voters and convince them that Amendments 5 & 6 are not in Floridians’ best interest.

State Senator Mike Haridopolos has been pumping defamatory op-eds into Florida papers, Congresswoman Corrine Brown has been all over YouTube spreading her message of opposition, and Congressman Diaz-Balart even showed up at our press conference trying to negate our message.

It’s not a coincidence that those who object to Amendments 5 & 6 are the very politicians who will face greater competition in their elections when 5 & 6 are in the Florida Constitution. When Amendments 5 & 6 pass, voters in Florida will regain the power to hold legislators accountable. Right now, redistricting guarantees victory for incumbents – No wonder politicians object!

I have learned to never underestimate the power of self-interested politicians.

Thanks,
Kelly Penton

Communications Director
FairDistrictsFlorida.org
VOTE YES on AMENDMENTS 5 & 6

--------

http://www.fairdistrictsflorida.org/home.php

A Clean Sweep for Amendments 5 & 6!

FairDistrictsFlorida Press Release
Friday Oct 22, 2010

Every Major Florida Newspaper Endorses the FairDistricts Amendments

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 22, 2010
Contact: Kelly Penton, 786-258-2649 Kelly@FairDistrictsFlorida.org

Miami, FL— Today, the Florida Times-Union recommended that “voters should support the reasonable Amendments 5 and 6,” making it a clean sweep of endorsements from major newspapers across the state. A total of 22 newspapers have urged Floridians to vote YES on FairDistricts Amendments 5 and 6.

“This could very well be the one issue this election season with unanimous support from all major newspapers across the state,” said FairDistrictsFlorida.org Campaign Chair Ellen Freidin. “Each newspaper agrees-- politicians have been using redistricting as a way to protect their own seats, making backroom deals and handpicking the voters that will most likely support them to be in their districts. Amendments 5 and 6 will stop this selfish practice, once and for all.”

The FairDistricts Amendments have even received national attention, with an editorial today in USA Today supporting efforts in Florida, California and Oklahoma, and stating “All these plans would benefit voters and the public interest.”

Since September, endorsements have been rolling in one-by-one from:
Bradenton Herald
Bradenton Times
Florida Today
Ft. Myers News-Press
Gainesville Sun
Highlands Today
Naples Daily News
Northwest Florida Daily News
Ocala Star Banner
Orlando Sentinel
Palm Beach Post
Panama City News Herald
Pensacola News Journal
Sarasota Herald Tribune
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
St. Petersburg Times
Suwannee Democrat
Tallahassee Democrat
Tampa Tribune
The Florida Times-Union
TCPalm
The Miami Herald

They all say that by voting yes on Amendments 5 and 6, Floridians will create rules for politicians when they redraw district lines, to make sure they protect voters’ best interests, not their own. With voter approval, the amendments will: prohibit politicians from drawing districts to benefit themselves or their parties, while requiring them to make districts compact, contiguous, and follow city/county lines, where feasible. In addition, the amendments will inscribe into the State Constitution strong protections for minority voting rights, for the first time ever.

To read each endorsement, or for more information on Amendments 5 and 6, please visit www.fairdistrictsflorida.org

-----

See veteran CBS News reporter Bill Plante interviews director Jeff Reichert, the writer and director of Gerrymandering at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9RtKwhd60Q8
Sorry, that's not available for me to show here, but you can click the link above to go to CBSNewsOnline and view it.

But I do have the trailer for Reichert's documentary.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kurAB5ridko

See also:
http://www.opencongress.org

http://www.govtrack.us/

http://www.govtrack.us/congress/findyourreps.xpd

http://www.sarasotaspeaks.com/node/71394

http://www.youtube.com/user/ScottFortune4U

http://www.tampabay.com/news/politics/

http://www2.tbo.com/content/2010/may/31/florida-redistricting-attracts-amendments-lawsuits/news-breaking/