The last Redistricting Board meeting was contentious, even explosive. I commend the Board for quicly posting the video of that meeting for all to see and judge for themselves.
Joint Redistricting Board, 11/10/21, 9am from AlaskaLegislature.tv on Vimeo.
Here's the link to the page with the video and many more. Watch the Nov 8 video and see if you can find where John Binkley called for a vote on the Senate pairings. I missed it and I was there.
There's lots more to talk about this event. I think it will be seen as the day that two Alaskan Native women stood up and refused to be polite and obedient partners of the three white Board members who pushed through a 3-2 vote to approve what seems to many to be a blatant partisan gerrymandering of the Eagle River senate pairings. John Binkley, who throughout this process has been friendly and open and conciliatory, seemed like a different person was he pushed this through. No attempt to find a way to resolve this other than the 3-2 vote. He wanted to erase their names from the Proclamation because they wouldn't sign it. It took the Board's attorney to resolve the issue by proposing that people sign the document as approving or opposing. This was a big day for Alaskan Natives all over the state and for everyone who believes in fair, non-partisan redistricting.
[UPDATE Nov 13, 2021: After watching this again, I think there are a number of important issues. One is the point, made by Melanie Bahnke, that this shines a light on how things get done by elected and appointed officials, not just in this case, but in all situations. Also important to me was that neither Bethany Marcum nor Budd Simpson, when asked, chose to counter anything that Borromeo and Bahnke said. 1. Because they can't offer any legitimate rebuttal, and 2) because they know they have three votes to two votes. ]
And 3) They know the matter will be brought to court (and it was time not to say anything on the record).
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