Redistricting Board Meets To Learn Mapping Software

 I stopped by the Legislative Information Office in Anchorage yesterday (Tuesday) to see part of the 2nd day of training.  This is what the whole room looked like when I came in to sit down.  The only other spectator turned out to be the son of the trainer.  But I heard that several people were there Monday. 

The Board members are up front.  To the left are the Board's two attorneys, to the right are the staff.  With his back to us is the consultant who flew up to do the training.  He and his son ended up sleeping Sunday night on the floor at SEATAC because a bunch of flights were cancelled due to the weather.  [All the photos open larger and sharper if you click on them]

To the left are Board members Melanie Bahnke and Nicole Borromeo.  (Brief bios of all the Board members are here.)

On this side we see (left to right) Board chair John Binkley and members Bethany Marcum and Budd Simpson.  

Attorneys Lee Baxter and lead attorney Matt Singer.   This was the only shot I took of the two and Singer was actually sitting up attentively most of the time.  

And here's Eric Sandberg and Peter Torkelson, executive director.  The previous post was about my meeting with Peter and TJ last week.  TJ was out picking up sweets for the Board when I got there.  Eric was a Dept. of Labor computer guy who was a technical expert for the previous board and my understanding is they have a similar arrangement this year.  Eric was the go-to guy for all the technical problems.  

The meeting turned out not quite as boring as I expected.  Well, first, I stayed less than an hour, and second, Peter invited me to play with the software on his computer.  Although this was an official meeting because more than two Board members were meeting (and so it was posted ahead of time and people could attend or call in), it was really a training session and much more informal.  Nicole Borromeo at one point asked me who I was taking pictures for (all the meetings ten years ago, there were never any audience members addressed or allowed to speak.)  When I told her, the Chair welcomed me.  (We had communicated by email a few times.)  Monday was, as I understand it, the first time the Board members had all been together and met each other in person.  

I looked up "autoBound EDGE" the software they're using.  

and got this brief description here.

You can see this better if you click on it or go to the website

One of the attorneys told me they are working to have software available for the public to use when the census data arrives in August so people can experiment and make their own maps.  I think that's important for two reasons:  1) it helps people understand how complicated it is to divide the state into 40 districts with equal population and meeting the federal and state requirements for compactness, social/economic integrity, and contiguity, among a few other parameters.  

My brief introduction to the software told me its complicated (there are lots of options for what maps you look at (blocks, tracts, districts, and subdivisions of each of those and lots of options to use different tools to add area into a district or take it out, etc.)  The most complex software I use regularly is Photoshop and I've taken university level classes on it and I only use a small fraction of what it's capable of.  This seems to have the same level of depth and breadth.  

This webpage gives some visual examples of some of the layers the Board will be using and it also says there's a version for citizens to use.  Let's see.  I'll keep prodding the Board to get the software available to the public before the data arrives so that people can start learning how to use it.

There are online videos for how to work this software and it's available to the public.  Though I'm not sure that when we get to the free software for the public, that it will be the same software the Board will be using.  And I haven't found that page yet.  

But I hope that there are lots of folks out there who might think about the mapping of Alaska's legislative districts and a challenging game and jump in.