Redistricting Board Agenda For Monday Meeting - Including Questionable Executive Session On History of Alaska Redistricting Cases

Below is the agenda for Monday's (Aug 23) Redistricting Board meeting.  Below that are some of my reactions.  I find the Executive Session to discuss Litigation lessons from Alaska Redistricting caselaw to be an overly generous application of the law Executive Session.  Most, if not all, of this discussion was done publicly by the previous board's attorney.  

[I tried viewing the agenda and copying it in two different programs.  The first ran most of the words together.  The second wiped out a lot of the formatting.  What you see below is the second.]

Date: August 23 - 24, 2021

Time: Monday, August 23: 10:00am; Tuesday, August 24: 9:00am

Place: Anchorage Legislative Information Office, Denali Conference Room, 1st Floor

1500 West Benson Blvd, Anchorage 99503

Live Video/Audio Web Stream: www.akl.tv

Teleconference public testimony dial-in numbers:

Anchorage 563-9085, Juneau 586-9085, Other 844-586-9085

Agenda

1. Call to Order and Establish Quorum

2. Adoption of Agenda

3. Adoption of Revised Travel/Per Diem Policy

4. Adoption of Public Testimony Policy

5. Public Testimony

Dial into one of the phone numbers above and indicate to the operator that you wish to testify

6. Census Data Overview

a. Overview Report on Alaska Population Changes

Eric Sandberg, Demographer, Alaska Department of Labor

b. Legacy Data and Population Change

Peter Torkelson, Executive Director

7. Redistricting Timeline and Schedule for Adoption of Draft and Final Maps

a. Understanding Alaska’s Constitutional Timeline

(including brief Executive Session to obtain legal advice)

Matt Singer, Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt

b. Board Discussion: Adoption of Timeline

8. Workflow Process

a. Staff recommendations for workflow process: Possibilities & Logistics

Peter Torkelson, Executive Director

TJ Presley, Deputy Director

b. Regionalization Possibilities

Eric Sandberg, Demographer, Alaska Department of Labor

c. Board Discussion: Workflow process, Adoption

d. Steps forward: initial map drawing, task assignments, public input

schedule

9. Executive Session for the purposes of receiving a presentation on Litigation

Lessons from Alaska Redistricting Caselaw.

Matt Singer, Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt

10. Map Drawing

11. Board Member Comments

12. Adjournment

The red indicates logistical information.  The blue shows the substantive part of the meeting.

My Comments:

• #s 6, 7, & 8 - are probably the meat of the meeting for the public.  
• So is #9, however that is scheduled now for Executive Session.  I understand that there may be some issues of strategy for the board.  But there are no cases at the moment and most of the overview should be description of the past cases.  I realize that the attorney doesn't want to tip off potential challengers to the Board's maps on the Board's legal strategy, but I know that the attorney could prepare the presentation so that much of it could be heard by the public.  Part I could be a list and description of the past cases that are important.  Part II could be "lessons from the past cases for the Board" and could be in executive session.  I think it's taking the easy way out to just say, since legal advice from the attorney is allowed to be in Executive Session, so whatever the attorney says to the Board will be.  There were relatively few times the previous Board's attorney required Executive Session to answer the Board's questions.  Most of it was done in public.  Transparency is a key value for all public meetings.  And Executive Session is ONLY for those items that cannot be public by law.  Much of this should be legal history that should be in open meetings.
• #10 Map Drawing - It would be helpful for the Agenda to estimate how long they expect this to take.  Are they going to be doing this individually on their computers?  Will it be done as a group?  I suspect the former so there won't be a lot to see most of the time.  Especially if people are watching online or listening in.  But during these types of sessions last time, the kinds of questions or observations Board members made were often of interest.  
• So, I'd recommend the Board put on the Agenda in the future how long they expect the meetings to take.  Is this meeting scheduled from 10am-5pm?  
• No?  Then how long? 
•  What about Tuesday's meeting?  
• How long do they estimate for the Executive Session?
• And I'd recommend that most of the discussion of redistricting court cases be held in public, if not all of it.  The previous board's attorney held this discussion last time.  

Here's the beginning of the Alaska Public Meeting Act:

AS 44.62.310. Government Meetings Public.

(a) All meetings of a governmental body of a public entity of the state are open to the public except as otherwise provided by this section or another provision of law. Attendance and participation at meetings by members of the public or by members of a governmental body may be by teleconferencing. Agency materials that are to be considered at the meeting shall be made available at teleconference locations if practicable. Except when voice votes are authorized, the vote shall be conducted in such a manner that the public may know the vote of each person entitled to vote. The vote at a meeting held by teleconference shall be taken by roll call. This section does not apply to any votes required to be taken to organize a governmental body described in this subsection.

(b) If permitted subjects are to be discussed at a meeting in executive session, the meeting must first be convened as a public meeting and the question of holding an executive session to discuss matters that are listed in (c) of this section shall be determined by a majority vote of the governmental body. The motion to convene in executive session must clearly and with specificity describe the subject of the proposed executive session without defeating the purpose of addressing the subject in private. Subjects may not be considered at the executive session except those mentioned in the motion calling for the executive session unless auxiliary to the main question. Action may not be taken at an executive session, except to give direction to an attorney or labor negotiator regarding the handling of a specific legal matter or pending labor negotiations.

(c) The following subjects may be considered in an executive session:

(1) matters, the immediate knowledge of which would clearly have an adverse effect upon the finances of the public entity;

(2) subjects that tend to prejudice the reputation and character of any person, provided the person may request a public discussion;

(3) matters which by law, municipal charter, or ordinance are required to be confidential;

(4) matters involving consideration of government records that by law are not subject to public disclosure.

C 1 is the usual item that would be used to cover discussion of litigation against a board or agency that might reveal the legal strategy and cost the board or agency an "adverse effect on finances."  But no one is currently suing the Board.  There are no cases.  This discussion is not about specific litigation, but about legal policy the Board might follow.  Like other policy advocacy, this is the type  of thing the public should hear so they know why the Board is taking a particular path.  And if there is a problem with that path, it's better for the public to hear about it now instead of down the line when there is actual litigation.  

If you scroll down to the Alaska section of this Reporters' Committee on Freedom of the Press page, you'll see an extended discussion on the limits of Executive Session in Alaska.