Redistricting Board Chair John Torgerson - Video

I got to talk to Alaska Redistricting Board chair John Torgerson Tuesday at the Anchorage public hearing.  I asked about publicity for the hearings.  He said they're using the State of Alaska Public Notice site. I suggested not that many people used it, but he said he did. True, he is a former state Senator so he might be more familiar with how the state makes announcements. But I suggested most people wouldn't know to look there.

And you really do have to know what you're looking for. I went back and googled it.
Here's what the page looks like:


Did you see it?  I've linked the image to the page.  So you can double click it, but since the list changes you might not get to the same page. 

I asked if they considered putting ads in newspapers. You can see his answer on the video.


UPDATE 10am:  I didn't click on the state public notice link because I already knew the information.  But this morning I did to confirm the Juneau location and discovered these notices are written by the same people who write the ten page small print agreement for credit cards and cell phones.    Look how easy it is to find where the public hearings will be:

ALASKA REDISTRICTING BOARD
AMENDED NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARINGS

On March 15, 2011, the US Census Bureau delivered local redistricting data for the state of Alaska to the Alaska Redistricting Board. That data has been posted on the Board’s website at: www.akredistricting.org. According to Article VI of the Alaska Constitution, the Board must release a proposed redistricting plan or plans within 30 days of receipt of the census data.

To assist the Board in its work, the public is invited to submit comments on the data and proposed redistricting plans via email (info@akredistricting.org), mail (Alaska Redistricting Board, 411 West Fourth Avenue, Suite 302, Anchorage, AK 99501), telefax (907)269-6691 or in-person at hearings to be held in Anchorage (March 22, 2011), Wasilla (March 23, 2011) , Juneau (March 25, 2011), Ketchikan (March 26, 2011), Fairbanks (March 28, 2011), Kotzebue (March 29, 2011) and Bethel (March 30, 2011) at the locations and times listed in the ATTACHMENT to this notice. A statewide teleconference via the Alaska Legislative Information Offices network will be held on March 31, 2011 from 12:00PM—7:00PM.

Any individual, group or organization wishing to present a proposed redistricting plan at any of these hearings is required to provide reasonable advance notice to Board staff by telephone (907)269-7402, telefax (907)269-6691, or email info@akredistricting.org.

Plan proponents must also include in their notice to Board staff whether they will present paper copies or an electronic version of their plan to the Board and whether any special equipment is needed for their plan presentation. Plan proponents will be given a fixed amount of time to present their plan dependent upon the number of plans proposed at a respective hearing.

The Board may conduct a short Board meeting at the start of any public hearing session to address administrative matters.

The Board will schedule a separate portion of each public hearing to take public comments related to redistricting issues not associated with any plan presented at that hearing. These comments will be limited to 5 minutes per individual, group or organization.

Please note that the public hearing on March 31, 2011 will be the only hearing on this schedule to be conducted via teleconference. Redistricting Board members will be in attendance at the Anchorage LIO site for the March 31 hearing. Members of the public at the Anchorage LIO site on March 31 will be able to provide testimony and present plans during the teleconference.

These are Public Hearings. If you need special accommodations, please contact 907-269-7402.

 And if you want to know where the hearings will be you have to open yet another file!]