Rights Coalition Presents Their Proposal

Jake Metcalf, Deborah Williams, and Leonard Lausen.  Thank you for your work.  I spent two weeks earlier this month traveling around the state for my employer so I understand what you've been going through.

Our plans, yes 2, meet all the Federal and state requirements.  All equal in size. 
Plans - chart showing that it meets all the requirements.

Supreme Court past ruling:  "where possible, all Municipality's excess population should go to one other district in order to maximize effective representation of the excess group."



REspecting Distric Boundaries - Matsu 5

Respecting City Boundaries - Fairbanks 1 district, all cities in tact


Juneau - SE deserves 4 entire house districts, Matsu

This is going very fast - taking pictures of the slides. 

Matsu has five districts that they deserve
Fairbanks - Districts 6 78 9 10
Valdez/Richardson Hwy
Anchorage - Districts 16-31 - No political gerrymandering

Community names match districts
Kenai
HD 39 - Nome/Upper Yukon - at least one district needs to be huge.  Cuirently District 6, this is the new big one, but more compact than 6
SE  HD 1,2,3 same in both alternatives  - heard NPR story about your meeting in Petersburg and complaints about splitting them up.  OUrs leaves them intact.  Districts compact. 

Differences in Alternatives:
HD 4 different - with and without Yakutat
HD35
Bethel 36, Dillingham (37), Kodiak/Cordova(38)

Rights plans meets all the principles and requirements.
Urge the burough to adopt one of these too.  We also support AFFR's request for extension of time for comments to discuss VRA analysis.  Thank you

White:  Jake, p. 10-11 - population data, Native+1 I understand.  That's total population?
Lausen:  Yes
White:  Numbers on first alternative a little small, so I'm ...  laughter
???:  Damn small
White:  I understand Natives unanimously did not like your plan?
Lausen:  Not, ...I do not recall any negative remarks made about the plan.
Williams:  Our plan, with respect to 39, many of the Athabascan villages would be associated with Majority/minority district.  Alt. 2 in particular, we have a compact District 36, postiive feedback, no general or specific negative comment
Lause:  Dillingham BB wanted more watershed.  Alt 2 able to provide that.  REsponed to feedback.
Williams:  What the board sees, Alt 2 presents a 37 that is contguous by water an air.  Land connection separated by keeping entire lake burough intact.  Wanted to present intact for Lake Burough.  Make argument that district is contiguous since transportation there is all by air and boat.  Alt there is a land connection, Alt 2, not.
White;  35 runs all the way to Sand Point, 37 connected ..
Lausen:  37 connected Bristol Bay and Aleutian Burough.  Connected by water, but if board doesn't like that, offer it combined by land. 
Williams:  Southern of 35 is S. Cook Inlet Native communities.

White:  thank you.
Torg:  I'm sure we'll have more.
Lausen:  We believe they're good, but we have contingency plans to get numbers higher if voting rights act expert requires higher numbers. 
Williams:  We hope that VRA expert considers in Bristol Bay considers that Census did not ask about citizenship,because i the canneries there are considerable non-citizens.
White:  Your plan does break Kenai Borough in two places.
Williams:  Kenai had to be broken twice for ???Voting Rights?
Lausen:  Kenai could be intact, depending on the VRA expert's number requirements. 

Torg:  thank you.  We'll be in touch.  Next MOA. 
9:58am  At ease

I'll try to get visuals up soon, but things are moving right along.