by Fair Maps Arizona in News. Posted July 13, 2021

The Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission has released official draft legislative and congressional district maps. The commission is requesting feedback from the public to learn what it got right and what it got wrong with these maps. The commissioners are willing to make major changes to these maps before they become final. For Gila County legislative districts we are working with version 10.2

There have been a series of public hearings across Arizona to gather input. Comments are gathered until December 22, 2021. Individuals speaking will be limited to two minutes. We recommend preparing your testimony in advance, and reading it to the commission at the hearing in your area.

When writing your testimony focus on these points:

URGENT!

Public comments to the Independent Redistricting Commission Needed ASAP

Background

The Independent Redistricting Commission is re-drawing Arizona legislative district boundaries based on the new census data from 2020. There are 30 legislative districts in Arizona. Based on census data each district should have a resident population of about 230,000.

The primary goal assigned to the Commission is to develop districts based on “community of interests”. For the new district 7 for the Gila County region, community of interests would be rural communities, ranching, farming, the copper mining industry, forest lands, etc.

The Commission has conducted two hearings in Payson for community input. In the first hearing, Gila County residences strongly requested the Commission to adhere to the “community of interest” goals. And the Commission did so by producing a very acceptable map of the new district.