Slaying the gerrymander dragon

Twenty six months ago I was busy getting Michigan’s Proposition 2 passed. This was to add a citizens redistricting commission to the state constitution. I gave a few group presentations (I am now very good at explaining gerrymandering) and knocked on hundreds of doors. It passed by 61%. A year ago I applied to be a commissioner. During the pandemic lockdown I had to go to my local credit union to get the form notarized. I wasn’t chosen. Out of the several thousand applications I didn’t even make the final 200. The Commission is at work now. They are holding public meetings around the state asking for citizen input for how the district maps for state House, state Senate, and national House should be drawn. One can also file comments on their website and there are probably phone and letter options too. This evening was the meeting in Dearborn. I did more than attend, I volunteered. My job was simple – as people came in I asked them to fill out a COVID symptom form, then a nametag. If they picked up a pen from the table I told them they should keep it. If they wanted to speak to the commission I directed them to another table. If not, they could enter the auditorium through the nearby doors. One guy joked what if someone checked yes for any of the list of symptoms. I replied I’d call for backup. I don’t know if anyone will actually look at the forms they filled out. Then I listened to some of the citizen comments. A few said essentially, “Please draw better maps!” They were calling on the commission to do what the commission is designed to do. One guy said, “I’m a small business owner. I need help!” I’m not sure what he expected the commission to do. Others said what the commission needed to hear. Several speakers were a part of the Arab community in Dearborn. Detroit has the largest Arab community outside of the Middle East and the majority of them are in Dearborn. These speakers told the commission something I hadn’t known – the census data the commission will work with will identify these people as white, not Arab. Identifying as Arab was not an option on the census form. A couple teachers wanted Dearborn grouped with Melvindale and Ecorse, a commonality I hadn’t known before. A public official wanted Belleville, Van Buren Township, and Sumpter Township to be grouped together because they share so many public services. A few speakers said the Downriver communities should be together. And a few more. There were 45 speakers, each given two minutes. I think I heard more than half of them. Most of the commissioners were on stage, though two were connected remotely, with their images on the large overhead screen. The screen also included an image of the person speaking, a sign language interpreter, the close captioned text (where Melvindale came out as Melvin dale), and the comment timer. It is good to see responsible government in action.