Libraries And Schools Are Targets In GOP War Against Truth

First Anchorage mayor Dave Bronson appointed a library director who didn't meet the minimum qualifications of the job description - a masters in library science and some years experience working in libraries.    When the Assembly didn't approve her, he appointed a second unqualified head librarian who isn't likely to be approved. (Or maybe they've already voted her down, there's so much nonsense going on it's hard to keep all the details straight. I can't find proof one way or the other.)

So now he's reorganizing the city through his budget which, according to Cheryl Lovegreen would  put the library into the Department of Parks and Recreation which changes the head librarian to a position that doesn't need Assembly approval. 

In an earlier post I pointed out that these actions are deliberate and that the GOP is pushing library takeovers around the country.  

I don't know how much of this Mayor Bronson consciously understands and how much he is just following the party instructions supported by the various national anti-think tanks and those organizations set up to get ideologically driven legislation passed at the state and local level.  

In the earlier post on taking over libraries, I'd found that a key goal is to purge libraries of books about race, about the history of race relations, that discuss diversity in a positive way.  It's part of the anti critical race campaign.  Mustn't allow people access to alternatives to the sacred myths of US exceptionalism.  

All of this is about lying on a pretty spectacular scale.  Lying as a form of keeping the masses ignorant, as a way to make them believe in an alternative reality.  It's how you create a cult of followers who deny what's in front of their own eyes and accept what their leader tells them.  

What's this got to do with libraries?   Lying isn't new to politics. 

"Secrecy - what diplomatically is called discretion," as well as the arcana imperil, the mysteries of government - and deception,  the deliberate falsehood and the outright lie, used as legitimate means to achieve political ends have been with us since the beginning of recorded history. Truthfulness has never been counted among the political virtues, and lies have always been regarded as justifiable tools in political dealings.

--Hannah Arendt (1971) “Lying in Politics: Reflections on The Pentagon Papers”, 

The Trump presidency took lying to a new level, at least in the US.   Journalists kept tab of how many lies he told in a day.  Twitter made it easier to track. And people are saying things like, "the lying was the point." But it's more than that.  Politicians have always lied about their opponents so they could take over their jobs.

Now it's a frontal attack on truth itself.  The constant denial of truth and the ways we evaluate and measure what is true, is intended to destroy people's confidence in education and in science.   It's an attack to take over as the arbiter of what is true.

If we look at the evolution of intentional lying in the modern United States, of well funded and scientifically based (science was used to determine the best ways to convince people, not to seek the truth) campaigns, we see things like the tobacco industry's decades long campaign to convince the US public that smoking was not bad for your health (for example here and here.) and the oil industry's campaigns denying climate change.  Both industries knew they were lying.  We see it again today with COVID.  People earn lots of money packaging and selling lies. These are just the big ones that have been exposed. There are thousands of lesser ones to get people to by 'health food' or to lose weight and on and on and on.  

But counting the lies and offering scientific evidence that 'prove' the inconsistencies are all besides the point.  The new GOP is now about obliterating truth.  By creating false realities, they can challenge science itself.  Trump may or may not believe he really won the election. (I tend to think he knows the truth, but he's also enough of a narcissist that he maybe can't imagine he didn't win.  I don't know.)  By still challenging the election, he cultivates the doubts of his supporters, and hopes to harvest their votes in the future. And to cast doubt on the legitimacy of any election he loses.

They have to lie and to eradicate any kind of objective truth because the truth does them no favors.  The US Justice system has huge flaws that favor the wealthy and the white and delivers injustice to the poor and the people of color.  But they have to maintain the facade that it is fair, at least when it punishes the poor and not-so white.  The economic system now takes from the poor and gives to the rich through systemic laws and rules that make it hard, if not dangerous, for workers to unite for better pay and better working conditions.  Their unions that fought for 40 hour weeks and vacations and overtime pay and fair grievance procedures have been gutted.  But they must maintain the fiction that if you work hard and honestly you'll do well.  

The elimination of any sort of verifiable truth gives the GOP the possibility of splitting the population and continuing to get many to vote against their own self interest.  They do this by creating an emotional self interest based on race, religion, abortion, immigration.  It's built on a quarter truth and three quarters lies. (No, I have not measured the truth ratios.  Think about this metaphorically.)

Thus They Want To Gut Libraries And Schools

So, if elimination of truth and the ability to evaluate what is true is the GOP goal, then it makes perfect sense for them to go after libraries and schools - all levels - and to go after libraries.  Because these are institutions that give average people access to the truth.  And access to alternative truths and to logic and science.  

Our governor's drastic cuts to the University of Alaska are a similar effort to destroy public universities.  I also believe that schools are prime targets of private takeovers.  But that idea distracted me from recognizing the other, larger,  goal - obfuscating truth.  

Viktor Klemperer (cousin of conductor Otto Klemperer) was a distinguished university professor and WW I veteran when Hitler came to power.  Klemperer kept a diary during WWII - I Will Bear Witness in two volumes - where, among other observations,  he kept notes on the language used by the Nazis in their speeches and in the news.  This later resulted in The Language of the Third Reich: A Philologist's Notebook.

These books are careful studies of how the Nazis manipulated language to hide truths they didn't want the German people to hear and to believe the truths the Nazis wanted them to believe.  

Good lesson for citizens of the United States to learn.  

And since I brought Nazis into the discussion, I had found the GOP's embrace of White Supremacists AND their flipping this completely by crying that they are victims of Nazi like suppression of liberties (for having to wear masks, for example) pretty bizarre.  

But on reflection, it's part of obliterating any kind of objective truth.  We are Nazis and we are the victim of Nazis.  Consistency and truth broken, leaving logical thinkers sputtering in disbelief.  That is the point.  To capture truth and make it their own way to rule the world.  

Saying No To Hate At Loussac Library

 Here are some pictures from the rally for civility being put on by @ANCGov at Loussac this afternoon.  Couldn't have been a nicer day.  It's was scheduled to 6:30.  I took off after an hour.  

There was a counter demonstrator with a mic and speaker keeping up a constant monologue challenging the idea of the of masks and the vaccine.  It was like a mosquito buzzing around you when you're outdoors.  Not sure what the guy on the left was saying, but the security guard came over and told him to back up.  

Sorry, this sign is out of focus, but it was the most unique, so I'm including it.

My rough count from up on the grassy hill was 70-80 folks.  Not a big crowd, but respectable.  

Green Acres: An Example Of How Redistricting Maps Move A Self Contained Neighborhood Around [Updated]]

[I've been working on this post a few days now and it still doesn't feel right, but I think I just need to put it up and move on.]

 [UPDATE Oct 12, 2021: The key change is that Rep. Spohnholz, not Rep.Tarr would be the Doyon map.  But I did some grammatical fixes while I was at it.]

Green Acres is a little self contained neighborhood southwest of UAA.  A black business woman homesteaded the area in the 50s, according to a neighbor who had been here from early on.  She then sold parcels to other black families who had trouble buying in other parts of Anchorage.  That probably also accounts for why no streets go through to any of the adjoining neighborhoods.  There are only three outlets - one to 36th and two to Lake Otis.  When it was homesteaded 36th didn't go through to Lake Otis.  When we moved into the neighborhood in the late 1970s, both 36th and Lake Otis were still two lane roads.  As the original owners passed away, and it got easier for blacks to live in other neighborhoods, the neighborhood changed, but it still has some of the original families as well as a diverse population.  It's a mix of single family homes, duplexes, triplexes, and four-plexes.

I've outlined Green Acres  in red (sorry, but red shows up much better than green).  You can see it's on the south west corner of Lake Otis and 36th.  None of the streets connect to the pricier neighborhoods to the west or south.  Only three streets exit Green Acres:  Randolph onto 36th, and 37th and 38th onto Lake Otis.  Across Lake Otis is some UAA land, and medical offices, then McLaughlin Youth Center.  South along Lake Otis is medical offices.  North is 36th and there is no entrance to the neighborhoods there until you go much further west to Vassar.   So Green Acres is a pretty self-contained neighborhood.  

Why am I telling you all this?   

At the Anchorage Redistricting Board map show-and-tell and public testimony a week ago Friday, I was looking at an AFFR map on the wall and saw that a section of Green Acres had been split off from the rest of the neighborhood.  I couldn't tell from the size of the map at the time, but it was close to 1/2 of Green Acres put into a district that had no real adjoining residential section.  So neighbors in the small community would be split into two different house districts and senate districts.  I talked to one of the AFFR mappers that night and followed up with an email with more details.  [By the way, I'm calling AFFR's district 15-H "the flying pig" though I'd accept "the flying bear" as well.]

So this exercise led me to write a  blog post about how to make some sense of all the maps. (I think it's a useful post for Alaskans, and maybe others in other states.)  There's way too much information for people to check all the districts in all the maps.  

So I recommended that people just find their own house on the six maps plus their current district and compare them.  As a way to get a better sense of what the different mappers did to their neighborhood, district, and representative and senator.

That's what I then set out to do for my neighborhood.  .  And you can too.  Here's the link to the map page on the Redistricting Board site.   There are six plans:

• Board v3 (version 3)
• Board v4
• AFFER (Alaskans for Fair and Equitable Redistricting) - the GOP group
• AFFR (Alaskans for Fair Redistricting) - unions and native organizations and others
• DOYON Coalition - A group of Native organizations
• Senate Minority - Democrats in the State Senate

Under each plan you have a choice of different kinds of formats.  I recommend to start off with the top one - the interactive map - so you can zoom in and out as you please.  

Near the bottom on the left are the 2013 Proclamation Maps where you can get a map of your current district.  

So here are my maps and things I learned.  

My Current District  [Note:  I drew a green outline around Green Acres, but on these maps it's hard to see, so I added the big green star.  Green Acres is at the 5 o'clock point of the star in all the maps. You should also be able to see UAA kitty-corner on the north-east side of Lake Otis and 36th.  These maps are all higher resolution than normal, so you can click them to make them bigger and sharper.]

So, now my neighborhood is in the north-west corner of my district (though the north-east corner goes further north).  UAA is in my district which goes south to Dowling and east to Elmore and along the edge of the UAA/APU parklands.  More or less.  It's not that clean.  Or in redistricting language, compact, meaning it's not a perfect square.  But it is compact in the sense that a person (like a candidate trying to go door to door) could walk from the southwest corner to the northeast corner easily.  Google maps sets a walking distance of 4.6 miles and a time of 1 hour and 31 minutes.

Board's V3 - District 16

We change from a generally squarish district with a north-south orientation, to a long rectangle.  Maybe a truck shape.  Green Acres moves from the north-west corner closer to the south-east corner.  We go from Piper/University Drive on the east (cutting UAA in half) all the way west past Wisconsin to Aero, almost in Earthquake Park.  North is along Northern Lights and the south boundary is basically Tudor.  Google maps say it's 5.3 miles from the SE corner to the NW corner by foot.  You could walk it, they say, in 1 hour 53 minutes.   I'd also note, after looking at Alaska Landmine's maps with state representatives homes marked, that this district has NO incumbents living it it.  It is hard for me to imagine how that can happen by accident.  My current representative lives south of Tudor which is across the border.  

Board's V4 - District 13

This map also moves me from the NW corner to the East of my district.  In other words it moves my district west and north.  And makes it an east-west rectangle not a north-south one.  But it seems more compact than V3.  It goes from Lake Otis and Northern Lights in the NE to Northwood and International Airport Road.  Google says you can walk 3.4 miles from the NE to the SW  in 1 hour and 7 minutes. While it follows squiggly Fish Creek along the east, it uses Tudor and International Airport Road as a southern border.   Again, it looks like v4, like v3, does a good job of carving out by five or six blocks my current representative Josephson and puts him in a district with another Democrat, Chris Tuck.  And from what I can tell, leaves District 13 with no incumbents.  

AFFER - District 24

There's a pattern here.  The two Board maps and the AFFER map all move my district north of Tudor which conveniently removes my current representative from my district and, apparently into the same district as Rep. Chris Tuck.  And then moves the district to the west so my neighborhood moves from the west end of the district to the east end. 

This map also changes the orientation from the old north-south to an east-west.  This map uses Chester Creek as a northern boundary and a very straight Tudor Road as a southern boundary.  The east looks like a fish with its mouth open but is largely Lake Otis from Tudor to Northern Lights.  

 This map does appear to have one incumbent in it - Harriet Drummond.

Google says 4.8 miles 1 hour 34 minutes from Folker and Tudor in the SE to the Westchester Lagoon Overlook in the NW.  

AFFR   - District 15 H

Like the others, it shifts my district east-west.  Well, I can't say that really, because this is the one I started with that pulls me and some of my neighbors out of our little self contained neighborhood and puts us in an isolated group not physically connected to any other residential neighborhood.  And as I write this I realize I've been in denial with this map, because I'm no longer with my Green Acres neighborhood and this flying pig shaped district.  This district does include my old representative Andy Josephson, but not me.  

From southeast toe to the northwest ear tip Google tells us is 5.4 miles or one hour 45 minutes walk.

While this started with my house, this quickly became about Green Acres, and in the AFFR maps, Green Acres is in two different districts.  So let's look at the other AFFR district where the other half of Green Acres goes.  

AFFR - District 18-I   

Another east-west orientation.  Part of Green Acres is now on a south border, in the middle between east and west.  It appears that Rep. Geran Tarr lives in this district.  Some of this area was well within my old district.  

Google says from the NE corner at Boniface and Debarr to the SE corner at Arctic and 36th is 5.1 miles, or a one hour and 39 minute walk.  

DOYON Coalition - District 17-I

Another east-west orientation.  On the east Boniface Parkway from just north of Northern Lights to just south of Tudor.  Then it uses Tudor for a southern border to the Seward Highway. Turns north along Seward Highway to 36 the west again to Arctic.  Arctic is the east boundary.  The northern boundary starting east at Boniface, goes along Reka Dr to Bragaw. Then it takes 20th to Rosemary, the Cassius to Thunderbird to 18th Circle.  Then I'm not sure what line it's following to get up to 16th and eventually gets up to Debarr.  From what I can tell, it splits up Airport Heights.  Then it gets over to Chester Creek and follows it to Valley of the Moon.  

Google says it's 5.2 miles one hour 39 minutes  from Boniface and 40th on the southeast corner of the district to Valley of the Moon Park on the northwest corner.  

I think that Geran Tarr  [@alaskanrobby says it's Ivy Spohnholz] is in this district, but on the Landmine map it's hard to tell exactly since the Doyon maps wanders in and out of the Airport Heights neighborhood.  I don't think any other representatives are in the district.  

Senate Minority Coalition - District 20-J

This map is the only one that keeps the district basically vertical.  But It takes the district south, keeps it narrow.  It's the only one of the maps that keeps my neighborhood in Rep.Josephson's district.  The Flying Pig district from AFFR does too, but my house was cut out of that district.

It basically starts at Northern Lights between Old Seward to Lake Otis and takes that narrow swath south.  At Dowling it protrudes to the east and stops at Lore in the south.  

Google says 4.8 miles or one hour and 36 minutes to walk from Elmore and Lore in the SE to Northern Lights and Seward Highway on the NW.

Observations and Conclusions

First a table pulling out some factors I could use for comparison.  There are two AFFR maps.  AFFR1 map is the the western half of Green Acres.  AFFR2 is the eastern half of Green Acres.

	Board v3	Board v4	AFFER	AFFR1	AFFR2	DOYON	SENATE Minority
District	16	13	24-L	15-H	18-I	17-I	20-J
Walking Distance	5.3 mi	3.4 mi	5.2 mi	5.4 mi	5.1 mi	5.2	4.7
Incumbent	none	none	Drummond	Josephson	Tarr	Tarr [Spohnholz]	Josephson
Deviation	-74/0.41%	-330/1.8%	+128/.70%	-20/0.11%	+4/0.02%	-141/-0.77	+5/+0.03

1.  All four of the independent map makers were able to identify Senate pairings, but the Redistricting Board did not.  The board's attorney Matt Singer said they were required to do the house districts but not the Senate pairings.  Here's what the Alaska Constitution says:

§ 10. Redistricting Plan and Proclamation

(a) Within thirty days after the official reporting of the decennial census of the United States or thirty days after being duly appointed, whichever occurs last, the board shall adopt one or more proposed redistricting plans. The board shall hold public hearings on the proposed plan, or, if no single proposed plan is agreed on, on all plans proposed by the board. No later than ninety days after the board has been appointed and the official reporting of the decennial census of the United States, the board shall adopt a final redistricting plan and issue a proclamation of redistricting. The final plan shall set out boundaries of house and senate districts and shall be effective for the election of members of the legislature until after the official reporting of the next decennial census of the United States. [emphasis added]

While the Constitution doesn't say the first proposed plan has to have senate districts, neither does it say it has to have house districts.  Only for the final plan does it say either house or senate, so I'm not sure why the Board's attorney thought that senate pairings in the original proposed plans were any less important than the house seats in the final plan.  All the 3rd party plans managed to include Senate pairings.  

I suspect that 'setting out boundaries' means 'metes and bounds' - a process the staff does at the end which is to describe the physical boundaries of the districts.  I've done a very abbreviated version of that in my descriptions.  Here's a post on Metes and Bounds I did in 2011 redistricting process.

2.  Most of the maps changed my current district from a north-south orientation to an east-west orientation.  

3.  The most distant points of each of the districts are all within 2 miles - 5.4 being the highest and 3.4 being the lowest.  Those points for each district should be walkable in 2 hours or less according to Google maps.  So there's really no problem with compactness.  The largest state districts are hundreds of miles of roadless wilderness.  Google maps couldn't tell me distances, for example, from Kaktovik to Point Hope.  Expedia says it's 922 km which is 572 miles, presumably by air.  

4.  While the Board adopted a policy at the beginning, to not protect incumbents, they have not made a policy to not target incumbents.  The Board's v3 and v4 maps both pair a number of incumbents and leave my district, for example, without an incumbent.  It's hard for me to believe that didn't happen intentionally.  I recently read an article - which I can't relocate - that said the first maps, no matter how much they are later adjusted, set the pattern.  The Board's v1 map of Anchorage put a number of Democratic incumbents into one district.  It also made the maps in an east-west orientation instead of a north-west orientation.  The second map, v2 was done quickly by another board member, but it's hard to adjust from that first orientation.  The current Board maps are modifications of v1 and v2.  We still have incumbents put together in the same districts.  It seems Democrats and moderate Republicans more than hard-line far right Republicans.  @Alaskanrobby has made maps showing those groupings.  

As you can probably tell, I'm still trying to make sense of all of this, I know more than I did when I started this post and the review of the maps.  I also have a lot more questions. 

If you try this, it should be easier, because you don't have to then write a post about it.  But the writing exercise does force one to clarify things.  Good luck.   

Swans At Taku Lake on Sunny Grey Day

You can listen to this song as you read.  It should make sense by the end.  

The sun kept a steady beam shining through the clouds as I biked over to Taku Lake today.  I reached my 745 km goal (a vicarious bike ride from Chiangmai to Bangkok) on September 13.  There's a tension between the benefits of riding the bike outdoors regularly and how my knees feel.  It's obvious that three or four days without being on a bike makes my knees feel much better.  I can live with a little pain if I know that the damage done is temporary.  (It doesn't hurt while I ride, just later on.)  

But there was still good biking weather and so I made a new goal.  800 kilometers.  I reached that goal October 4.  So what next?  A quick and dirty calculation of .6 * 800km got me to 480 miles, so I needed 20 more miles to get to 500 miles.  That would be about 32 more kilometers.  It's not all that important and I didn't set out to go that far today.  But the weather was good, everything was beautiful and a changing seasons way, and I got to Taku Lake feeling good.  

At the south end of the lake were four swans (and a number of smaller and darker water birds) taking a rest on their way south.  

Then back home with a stop on one of the many bridges that cross over the meandering creek to  get a picture of the sun's reflection (maybe glare is a more apt term) on the creek.  Although the sky was mostly grey, the sun made its presence known most of the way.  

It ended up being 13+ kms.  All but about three kilometers were on dedicated bike trail in the greenbelt that buffers the creek from residential and commercial streets.  There's only one non-residential street that I have to cross.  So I now had 816.5 kms for the summer.  Time to check precisely how much more before I hit 500.  So I googled 500 miles = x kms.  Turns out the simple .6 rounds off more than I thought.  804km = 500 miles. 

 I was already there when I started.  So know I'll just ride until it's icy on the trails.  Winter biking, will be on the bike with studded tires and only for short distances if there's what used to be a normal snow covering - without ice.  

Meanwhile, I'm working on a post on how the different redistricting plans move me from one district to another.  Enjoy your Sunday.  Find something wonderful - whether it's the bark on a tree or an old picture of people you love.  

I'm Punting Here, But Edward Snowden Is A Smarter And Better Writer Than I

I'm working on posts related to COVID and our mayor, and on redistricting, but it takes time to post something that's got something in it that everyone hasn't already heard. 

So when I read a Tweet by Edward Snowden - "On banking, bitcoin, and the future of money: a response to a governor of the Federal Reserve, Christopher J. Waller" - and then read the Substack article it was linked to, I knew I had something I could share while I continued working on (at least thinking about) my own posts.  

So, who is Waller?  Snowden tells us:

"Waller, an economist and a last-minute Trump appointee to the Fed, will serve his term until January 2030."

Waller was talking about whether the US government should create its own cryptocurrency in response to Bitcoin and other such currencies.  Snowden points out that China and a few other nations have already done this.  China, because it's a great way to keep track of how individuals are moving money around.  And government controlled cryptocurrency's biggest problem for Snowden, if I understand him, is the surveillance aspect of cryptocurrency.  

I'm impressed with how well Snowden writes.  He gets so much content into relatively few well chosen and organized words.  And he's really smart.  With a wicked understated sense of humor.  I don't understand everything he says, but with the endorsements of heroes like Daniel Ellsberg, I think what Snowden writes is worth paying attention to.  And his writing is just fun to read, even on a highly technical subject I don't know that much about.  But computers and surveillance are two subjects that Snowden is an expert on.  

There's even a history of money

For thousands of years priors to the advent of CBDCs, money—the conceptual unit of account that we represent with the generally physical, tangible objects we call currency—has been chiefly embodied in the form of coins struck from precious metals. The adjective “precious”—referring to the fundamental limit on availability established by what a massive pain in the ass it was to find and dig up the intrinsically scarce commodity out of the ground—was important, because, well, everyone cheats: the buyer in the marketplace shaves down his metal coin and saves up the scraps, the seller in the marketplace weighs the metal coin on dishonest scales, and the minter of the coin, who is usually the regent, or the State, dilutes the preciosity of the coin’s metal with lesser materials, to say nothing of other methods.

At the very least, this is an early warning for me (well others might say rather late) to pay more attention to cryptocurrency and what it might mean for the future of money.  And the ability of governments to monitor how people spend their money.  

So I'm strongly recommending the article.  Here's the link again.  Meanwhile, here are some quotes from the article.  

“Intermediation,” and its opposite “disintermediation,” constitute the heart of the matter, and it’s notable how reliant Waller’s speech is on these terms, whose origins can be found not in capitalist policy but, ironically, in Marxist critique. What they mean is: who or what stands between your money and your intentions for it.

This “crypto”—whose very technology was primarily created in order to correct the centralization that now threatens it—was, generally is, and should be constitutionally unconcerned with who possesses it and uses it for what. To traditional banks, however, not to mention to states with sovereign currencies, this is unacceptable: These upstart crypto-competitors represent an epochal disruption, promising the possibility of storing and moving verifiable value independent of State approval, and so placing their users beyond the reach of Rome. Opposition to such free trade is all-too-often concealed beneath a veneer of paternalistic concern, with the State claiming that in the absence of its own loving intermediation, the market will inevitably devolve into unlawful gambling dens and fleshpots rife with tax fraud, drug deals, and gun-running.  

 

Traditional financial services, of course, being the very face and definition of “intermediation”—services that seek to extract for themselves a piece of our every exchange. 

I think about how credit cards and Amazon make money simply by getting a percent of everything we buy, adding their own tax to everything consumers buy or businesses sell.  

I risk few readers by asserting that the commercial banking sector is not, as Waller avers, the solution, but is in fact the problem—a parasitic and utterly inefficient industry that has preyed upon its customers with an impunity backstopped by regular bail-outs from the Fed, thanks to the dubious fiction that it is “too big too fail.” 

Ultimately, Snowden says he agrees with Waller's conclusion that the US should not create its own crypto currency, but for a different reason.  

"And yet I admit that I still find his remarks compelling—chiefly because I reject his rationale, but concur with his conclusions.

It’s Waller’s opinion, as well as my own, that the United States does not need to develop its own CBDC. Yet while Waller believes that the US doesn’t need a CBDC because of its already robust commercial banking sector, I believe that the US doesn’t need a CBDC despite the banks, whose activities are, to my mind, almost all better and more equitably accomplished these days by the robust, diverse, and sustainable ecosystem of non-State cryptocurrencies (translation: regular crypto). " 

One key point that hasn't gotten into this post yet is surveillance 

I think I'm pushing the ethical limits on the amount I can quote from someone. Really, this is only fraction of what he wrote and I'm hoping that through his quotes I can entice you to click the link to his article.  Consider this post a trailer for his article. 

While There's Chaos At The Assembly Meeting, People Testify Calmly And Respectfully At Redistricting Board

Yesterday afternoon, about 50 or 60 people showed up at the Dena'ina Center to look at maps lining the walls and to testify about what they liked or didn't like about the maps.  

 

These were state maps and Anchorage maps mostly, created by the Board (versions 3 and 4) and by the four 3rd party maps that the Board voted to show around the state.  

There was also testimony by 18 or so people.  Everyone wore masks, though most folks took them off while testifying which they did a long ways from anyone else. They were required and there was a supply available at the sign in desk.   There was a lot of room, though people did get fairly close in some cases to talk about the maps.  Here's a brief version of the kind of things people said. Excuse me if I don't get all they said, or worse, if I mix it up a bit.  

 Gil Stokes talked about the removal of a polling place where he lived and how difficult this made it for the many people who were older and that he hoped they would reinstate this place to vote.  Board member Nicole Borromeo said she'd refer his message to the Division of Elections who made those decision.

Alex Baker complained that in the Board's maps (I think) his neighborhood - Fairview - had been split into three different districts.  This would mean common issues for the neighborhood, like problems with Merrill Field wouldn't get the attention they need if they were represented by one person.  There were also issues about the businesses along Ingra and Gambell being split into different districts.  He generally favored the AFFR map.

Alex Jorgerson also favored the AFFR map.  In one map (the Board's?) Taku-Campbell area was split up in ways that did not reflect the neighborhood.  There was something about 3 different schools.

Kim Hays said she was from the Raspberry-Dimond area also preferred the AFFR map.  And if not AFFR the Board's v4 with AFFR's version of her district.  

Steve Colligon, one of the AFFER map makers, said there was a new version of the map they wanted to submit for the record.  

Then Randy Ruedrich, also from AFFER, expanded on Steve's comments.  He said they'd found a unique way to deal with the excess people in the  north Fairbanks area. [Excess people just means that when you divide the population into equal 18,335 districts, Fairbanks ends up with left over people who have to be paired with people from elsewhere to make another whole district.]  In the past he said they'd put them into District 5 that wrapped around Fairbanks and took up much of the Interior.  Now he'd found an ingenious way to create a good district out of them.  He also mentioned that the Alaska constitution requires maps pay attention to natural geographic boundaries like rivers.  

Normally, if someone is facing left, I'd try to put them on the right side of the post, like with Ruedrich above.  But everyone was facing left, from where I was.  So I figure moving the pics around is more interesting.  But they were all facing the front table where Board member Nicole Borromeo was listening and  taking notes.  

She told Steve and Randy that they weren't going to accept any new official maps, but would take the changes into consideration.  In the picture here, the person to her right is staff member TJ Presley.  He quickly moved over to near where the mic was so that he could change mics between speakers and clean off the one just used.  

The other Board member at the meeting was Bethany Marcum who stayed near the maps so she could answer questions from people looking at the maps.  

Retired dentist Jason Rampton, gave his coming to Alaska with the military story and wanted to emphasize that many active and retired military live in Eagle River and so connecting the bases with the ER area made good sense.  He said half of Eagle River was active and retired military and I'm still wondering how to fact check that.  

Jason Lesard from District 23 was next and I just forgot to take his picture.  He suggested that the Board include copies of the current districts at these presentations so people can compare them to the maps on the wall.  

Emily Becker complained about the constant references to the Supreme Court ruling that all of Anchorage was one Socio-integrated unit and so neighborhood considerations didn't need to be taken into consideration.  She argued that there were lots of diverse populations and their community voices were lost by dividing them into separate districts.  [This is not different from what Dr. Rampton was saying about ER.]

At this point, the Board's administrator pointed out that the Board's office in the University Mall was open and people could call and order paper maps and then pick them up.  Or drop in, but if they called first, they wouldn't have to wait for someone to put a packet of maps together.  

I think this is Stanton Moll.  (If not my apologies to Moll and to this speaker.)  My notes say he preferred AFFR particularly because it heeded the advice that JBER should be divided according to the gates, because those locations are where people on the base interact most with the community. 

Jordan Harary began reciting the motto on US currency - E Pluribus Unum - Out of Many, One.  He emphasized that today this was no longer true.  We are a divided nation.  He said there are political players trying to make the maps more Democratic and more Republican.  He urged the board not to let that happen and said he favored the Doyon map.  

[I pulled out a $5 bill to check the spelling of E  Pluribus Unum.  I figured that was faster than googling.  Only the E Pluribus part was showing. The Unum was covered by a seal.  I couldn't find the words anywhere on a $1 or a $20.  I'd also note that despite all the rhetoric about being divided, I'm convinced that a relatively small percentage of the population is seriously divided from the rest.  But they are really noisy.  I base this on the fact that 57% of US adults are fully vaccinated and 66% have had at least one shot. That means only 34% haven't been vaccinated. Some for legitimate reasons, and the rest because . . . But conflict gets clicks and eyeballs and most media can't resist using alarming headlines.  And after a while they believe it.]

Kevin McGee, from the local NAACP, was concerned that the diverse populations of Anchorage not get divided and are fully represented.  He emphasized the one person one vote standard and the other three key requirements.  He preferred the AFFR map.  Didn't particularly like the AFFER map or the v3 and v4 maps.  He was against the minority votes of Government Hill and Muldoon being lost by pairing them with Eagle River.  He liked that the Doyon maps gave Doyon members power in their own districts and didn't match them with North Pole.  His final words were to use AFFR and Doyon maps. 

Nora Morse (I hope I've still got the names and pictures matching) preferred AFFR map because it follows community council neighborhood boundaries.  [That's not true in my district.  I'll try to use their map as an example of the problems of balancing deviation, compactness, contiguity, and socio-economic integrity in another post.]

I took advantage of being there and shared that at the previous round of redistricting, the board didn't do the Senate pairings (indicating which House districts would be paired into Senate seats) until the last week before final approval  there was no public testimony  taken at that point.  So I was recommending that the current Board make sure there's opportunity for public testimony about the Senate pairings before the new plan is finalized.  [I'd note also that in looking up that post from last time, I saw that in that last week of the 60 Board process before approving the plan, June 7- 12, 2011 they also discussed metes and bounds and truncation.  Two arcane processes that are discussed in those posts that week in 2011.  You can use the links to prepare ahead for those actions.  Metes and bounds is more technical mapping and describing the boundaries.  Truncation is deciding which current Senate seats will be shortened or lengthened to maintain staggered terms - 1/3 of the Senate is up for election every two years.]

I couldn't take my own picture while I was testifying and then forgot the next two.

Kimberly Collors(sp?) is involved in her community council.  She wanted to know what the Senate pairings would be.  Something about the Muldoon curve and the East Anchorage Community Council being split.  Appreciates v4 ???  Likes that AFFR map respects downtown.

Tasha Holeh from Mt  View liked the Doyon map.  

Louise Donhauser talked about Mt. View and the large homeless population.  

Lois Epstein, from downtown Anchorage, pointed out that if you start mapping from the north you end up with a very different map than if you start from the south.  Instead, she said you should  start with neighborhoods.  She also said that leaving out incumbent information doesn't really prevent gerrymandering.  The Board should be transparent and put that information in.  On the assumption that house districts would be paired in order, she said District 23 should be 22 so that Government Hill would be paired with East Anchorage. And that AFFER was unacceptable.  

Finally Don More said that as he testified before he's from West Anchorage and he thought v4 did a good job of West Anchorage.  He also mentioned AFFER following drainage patterns.  

To the folks who testified, I hope I didn't distort your words or meaning.  And hope you are upset with your pictures or lack of pictures.  If you do have a problem, please leave a comment so I can fix it.  

Alaska Redistricting Board: About The Maps And How To Make Sense Of Them

[NOTE:  Board is meeting in Anchorage this afternoon:  

October 4, 2021: Anchorage Public Hearing: 4:30pm-6:30pm: Dena’ina Center 

 Kahtnu Rooms 1 & 2 (up escalators and to the left)

http://notice.alaska.gov/203893  from what I understand the Board will have maps up on the walls and people will be able to talk directly with Board members and staff, ask questions, make suggestions.  Whatever you say, also submit it in writing so it gets on the record.]

The Board's been meeting in SE Alaska and I read their announcements literally that they would simply have maps posted on the walls and the board members (at least two were going to attend these workshops)  who attended would be there to talk to attendees and that nothing would be broadcast.  I didn't look too carefully, because I was more than happy to be doing other things. 

But redistricting has been weighing on me and so let me share some thoughts about how people can figure out what's going on and weigh in on the maps, the heart of redistricting.

1. How many maps are there?
1. Depends on what you mean by 'a map.'  The Board was required to approve a draft map within 30 days of the Census Bureau giving out the official census numbers.  The Board produced two draft maps which they called version 1 and version 2.  (v1 and v2).  Then five other groups (the board calls them 3rd Parties) submitted alternative maps.  
2. After hearing public testimony, the board replaced v1 and v2 with v3 and v4.  The board approved of four of the five 3rd party maps (Doyon, AFFR, AFFER, and the Senate Minority maps.  They rejected the Democratic party map.) The approved maps have been posted on the Board's website along with v3 and v4 and are being shared with the public as the Board gets feedback around the state.  (Rejecting the Democratic map looks bad to casual observers, but it had a lot of issues. When questioned by Board member Borromeo, for nearly every district she asked about, they'd say, "This district has particular problems..."  The public has lots to digest and having one less set of maps map will make it easier for the public and I don't think anything important will be lost.  The Democratic Party is still free to point out aspects of their map that are better than any of the other maps is they feel it's important.)
3. So, there are two board maps and four 3rd party maps.
4. BUT, these are maps of Alaska and there are 40 state House districts.  So each proposal has 
1. a map of Alaska
2. maps of of key cities and regions (ie Anchorage, Fairbanks, Matsu, Kenai, SE, etc.)
3. maps of all 40 districts
5. You can get links to all the maps on the Board's map page.  The maps of Alaska in each plan are interactive - you can move around and enlarge them  to see details.  The individual district maps are pdf files.  If you have the right software and skills, there are also shapefiles.  If I understand this right, these have all the data on them and you can use them to make your own maps, as the 3rd parties did.
6. There's also a link to  an interactive map that overlays all the district borders of all the plans. Below is the AFFR map. The white lines outline AFFR District 25-M in Anchorage.  You can switch maps in the far left red bar (see blue arrow).  

   

   Click on image to enlarge

   
   
7. The Board offers a way to do your own maps.  All the current Alaska data are loaded there.  You can get there here.
2. How do you make sense of the maps?
1. Ah, that's the rub.  My suggestion is that you focus on your own district.  The Board's website has the 2013 plan too on the map page.  Go there.  Find your own district.  Print out that map.  Then start with v3 or v4 and find the district you'd be in with that map.  Print it out and then compare.  Then look at the districts the 3rd parties created for where you live.  
2. You can also go to the public meetings page.  This page lists all the meetings along with the minutes, audio recordings, and the testimony from the public.  You can listen to the tape of the meeting to hear what others are saying about the maps or read the public testimony.  This is where people have raised issues with the maps.  As I write this, they are only caught up to the September 20 meeting.  But there's enough to keep you busy and give you a sense of the key problems people found.  
3. If you notice a problem, how do you let the Board know?
1. Go to a meeting near you and testify.  I try to post info on upcoming meetings current here.  You can also subscribe to notices from the Board here.
2. Call in to a meeting. The meeting notices have a link to the information for calling in and testifying.  You can call in and just listen.  Testimony has been taken at the beginning and end of the meetings.  So if while listening, you can indicate to the operator that you want to testify at the end.
3. Speaking at meetings means you know the Board members heard you.  But if you want your message to be accurately captured, you can write it up at this link.
4. Ideally you do both so you know they heard you and there's an accurate record of your testimony.  
5. If the final plan is challenged in court, all the testimony can be used to show that the Board was informed of problems.  And if the 3rd party maps may be able to demonstrate that the Board's map  has NOT met the Constitutional requirements as well as other possible maps.  
4. But it's still so overwhelming, isn't it?
1. Yes, there's a lot there.  But if you focus on your district and nearby districts, then you can supply information about local issues and concerns.  
2. The 3rd party groups who submitted maps are also paying close attention to the map making and they represent different interests.  They've gotten mapping software in advance and are much more intimately knowledgeable than anyone else will be.  And if they think there are serious problems at the end, the will file a law suit challenging the maps.  The groups are:
1. Alaskans For Fair Redistricting (AFFR) - "Alaskans For Fair Redistricting (AFFR) is a coalition of Alaska Native groups, organized labor, public interest and community organizations. AFFR was created amid the 2000 redistricting process to ensure an equitable map for the people of Alaska"
2. Alaskans For Fair and Equitable Redistricting (AFFER) - This group looks out for Republican interests.  Randy Ruedrich (former Republican Party chair) and Steve Culligan presented the plan.
3. Coalition of Doyon, Ltd., Tanana Chiefs Conference, Fairbanks Native Association, Sealaska, and Ahtna. - This is a consortium of Interior Native Corporations and Sealaska.  Their ostensible interests are making sure that Native Alaskan interests are represented in Juneau.  And presumably they are looking for a map that will favor the various business interests of the Native Corporations. 
4. Senate Minority Coalition - Made up of the state Senate minority caucus and led by Sen. Tom Begich.  Begich has been involved with all the redistricting efforts going back to 1991 I believe and has been an expert witness and testified before the Supreme Court on redistricting.  This is group compensates for the loss of the Democratic Party proposal to some extent.  
3. Find the 3rd Party groups you think most aligned with your interests and contact them. Ask them for more information about the maps and how you can support their positions.  

Of course this is just one slice of what's happening, but the maps are the heart of redistricting so this is a good place to start.  

Redistricting Board Message On Meetings And Testimony

 I've been working on a post about maps - not analyzing the maps, but giving readers a sense of the lay of the land.  It's almost ready and I'll post it tomorrow (looking at the time, I should say later today.)

Meanwhile I just pulled up the message from the Board - you can all subscribe to these updates - which is relevant to the post I'm working on, so I'll just copy it here.

Hello subscribers,

 

Thanks for staying involved in the redistricting process! The board has learned a lot from the first week of public hearings and received a few suggestions on how to make the process better. Apologies in advance for the long email – I wanted to clarify a few things, answer a few recurring questions, and give out some more detailed information about the meeting format.  I’ve also attached a draft schedule for the rest of the month. As the tentative meetings are confirmed, I will be sending out the notice and a revised schedule. It will also be posted on our meeting information site here: Alaska Redistricting Board - Minutes & Audio (akredistrict.org) (you may have to refresh your browser to get the latest version).

 

Open House:  We have received a lot of feedback on the Open House format and I wanted to give a quick explanation. The board adopted six proposals for public input – these proposals have 40 districts each in addition to the six regional/statewide maps which equates to 276 maps to review. There has been a lot of confusion about what is in which map for which proposal and the Open House format allows attendees to view large format printed maps, spend more time comparing the maps they are interested in, have staff assistance viewing the interactive maps on the website, and ask detailed questions of the board members who are there. This format has been very informative to attendees and the Board plans to keep it available in addition to receiving in-person testimony.

 

Written testimony: Since only a few board members will be at each public hearing, written testimony is encouraged as it allows all testimony to be distributed quickly to all board members. Board members have also found that referring to written testimony is especially helpful when going back to the map drawing board. You can submit testimony via our web portal at Alaska Redistricting Board - Map Comment (akredistrict.org) or send email to: testimony@akredistrict.org.

 

In-person testimony: The Board will include an opportunity for “town hall” style in-person testimony at each meeting. The timing will be determined at the meeting based on attendee preference. In-person testimony will be recorded, transcribed, and sent to board members as soon as the transcriptions are complete.

 

Masks: Masking is required at all community public hearings. Our board members and staff are traveling to many locations in the upcoming days and will require that you take this precaution to protect us and members of the communities we are visiting.

 

Call-in testimony: In order to provide an opportunity for all board members to be present to hear call-in testimony, the board is planning to have two statewide call-in dates – these have been scheduled for October 20 and October 30.  To reduce waiting, there will be dedicated times for each region of the state, which I will send out as soon as they are finalized. However, if you can’t make your designated time, you will be able to call in at any point of the day – callers from those communities will be prioritized for that time slot but the plan is to allow all callers to have an opportunity to address the board.  

 

More information will be forthcoming as soon as it’s available. 

 

Juli Lucky (she/her)

Staff, Alaska Redistricting Board

(907) 251-9295 cell

 

Upcoming Board Meetings and Important Dates:

October 4, 2021: Anchorage Public Hearing: 4:30pm-6:30pm: Dena’ina Center http://notice.alaska.gov/203893

October 5, 2021: Kotzebue Public Hearing: 3:00pm-5:00pm: Nullagvik Hotel http://notice.alaska.gov/203945

October 6, 2021: Ketchikan Public Hearing: 4:30pm-6:30pm: Ted Ferry Civic Center http://notice.alaska.gov/203923

October 7, 2021: Petersburg Public Hearing: 12:30pm - 2:00pm: Petersburg Assembly Chambers:  http://notice.alaska.gov/203924

October 7, 2021: Wrangell Public Hearing: 4:30pm-6:30pm: The Nolan Center: http://notice.alaska.gov/203925

 

NOTE: the community public meeting schedule is still being developed – meetings will be added to this list as soon as they are confirmed.

November 10, 2021: Day 90: Adoption of Final Redistricting Plan