April 3, 2022: Are We There Yet?
No, we are not there yet.
On Wednesday, March 30th, the East Baton Rouge Parish School Board was scheduled to hold a meeting in order to select a single map for later ratification.
The meeting was not held. Mother Nature had other plans, and threats of severe weather compelled officials to understandably cancel the meeting.
It has been rescheduled. The special meeting will now be held on Thursday, April 7th at 5pm. This new date allows concerned citizens a few more days to submit public comments in support of their favored map. Even if they have previously submitted a comment, they are encouraged to submit another comment before Thursday.
There’s been some discussion about which map deserves support. That’s not an easy decision when there are 19 maps under consideration. Thankfully, Tony Fairfax, a demographer working with the Power Coalition evaluated all 19 maps and issued a report.
The full report can be found on the Power Coalition’s EBR Redistricting webpage. It’s linked beneath the heading, “Download the East Baton Rouge School Board Plan Comparison.” Here is the link to the Power Coalition’s webpage: https://powercoalition.org/ebrredistricting/
I summarized Fairfax’s report in my previous post:
Fairfax eliminates many of the maps as they fail to abide by required criteria. He ranks the remaining maps according to “best criteria.”
According to Fairfax’s final evaluation, the Finney 15 and the Ware-Collins 11 are the top two maps. Here’s the summary from his report:
Summary
After reviewing the final plan choices, using the “Best” criteria index, Finney 15 and Ware-Collins were the top two plans. These plans had 5 and 4 out of 10 “Best” criteria totals, respectively. Each of these plans performed better overall than any of the other seventeen plans that were analyzed. However, there are other plans included after the criteria elimination process. These plans consist of the following: Finney 11, Finney 12, Finney 13, and Finney 14. Finally, in order to choose the final plan, the ultimate criteria may be determining the acceptable number of “districts” that the EBR School Board desires.
Note Fairfax’s final suggestion: the deciding factor for the best plan may be the number of single-member districts.
If we take Fairfax’s advice and decide first the ideal number of districts, the obvious choice for which plan to support is the Finney 15. With 15 single-member districts, the ratio of elected official to constituents would become 1 : 25,811. That’s quite close to the ideal ratio established in 1971 (1 : 23,763).
By increasing the number of districts and shrinking them in both population and geographical size, some integrity would be restored to our democratic elections. Campaign contributions from SuperPACs and other special interests would not command an insurmountable advantage. With fewer constituents, School Board members would be more responsive to stakeholders. Since the Finney 15 includes the appropriate number of majority-Black districts, it would ensure African Americans have the ability to elect a proportional number of their candidates of choice to serve on the School Board.
Does this mean the Ware-Collins 11 is unacceptable? Of course not. Any increase in the number of single-member districts is an improvement over the status quo. Some are advocating for the Ware-Collins 11 exclusively. They are concerned that the Finney 15 doesn’t have a snowball’s chance in hell of being adopted by the School Board, so it is prudent to instead advocate for the Ware-Collins 11.
It is true that the odds of the Finney 15 being chosen are slim to none. However, I don’t think advocating for the Finney 15—the ideal map—necessarily undermines the possibility of the School Board adopting the Ware-Collins 11. In fact, advocating for the Finney 15 and repeatedly raising the objective of reducing the elected official to constituent ratio makes it more difficult for the School Board to stick with the status quo and adopt another 9-member plan. That means advocating for the Finney 15 makes it more likely not less likely that the Ware-Collins is adopted. More importantly, advocating for the Finney 15 better educates community members so they can make informed decisions in the days and years ahead. Remember, the Metro Council is currently undergoing the redistricting process as well.
Fact is, one is not required to choose between the Finney 15 and the Ware-Collins 11 at this juncture. Here’s the public comments I submitted via the online portal on the EBR Schools website:
Comment 1:
I ask the East Baton Rouge Parish School Board to adopt a new map which increases the number of single member districts. We need additional districts in order to reduce the ratio between elected officials and constituents. Originally, the ideal ratio between elected official and constituents was approximately 23,000. With today’s population size, the elected official to constituent ratio of a nine district map is exponentially higher: 1 to approximately 43,000. In order to restore some semblance of balance, the new map would ideally consist of 15 districts. The Finney 15 map consists of 15 districts and meets all other legal requirements. At the very least, the EBR School Board should adopt a map with the same number of single member districts last approved by the Department of Justice. That would be 11 districts. The Ware-Collins map consists of 11 districts and meets all other legal requirements. The school board should ideally adopt the Finney 15 or at the very least adopt the Ware-Collins 11.
Comment 2:
The current map which consists of only nine single-member districts should not be considered the baseline. It is an unjust map that was adopted in 2014. It was not approved by the Department of Justice, and it’s unlikely it would have survived a legal challenge in Federal court. A map with only 9 members is unacceptable.
Ideally, the EBR School Board should adopt a map that restores the appropriate ratio of elected official to constituents, 1 to approximately 23,000. In order to near that ratio, the board should adopt the Finney 15, which contains 15 single-member districts and meets all other legal requirements. At the very least, the board should adopt the Ware-Collins, which consists of 11 single-member districts and meets all other legal requirements. The last map approved by the Department of Justice had 11 single-member districts. An 11-member map is the true baseline.
Whatever you choose, please choose to be engaged in this process. Make your choice and submit a comment via the online portal or by emailing the School Board members. Revised redistricting schedule, link to online portal, and list of email addresses are below. Those who feel especially motivated should attend the meeting on Thursday, April 7th at 5pm and testify in person to support their “map of choice.”
Revised redistricting schedule:
Link to online portal:
https://comment.ebrschools.org/?m=20220619&i=Public%20Comments
School Board Members’ Email Addresses:
mbellue@ebrschools.org
dlanus@ebrschools.org
thoward4@ebrschools.org
dcollins1@ebrschools.org
ewarejackson@ebrschools.org
jdyason@ebrschools.org
mgaudet@ebrschools.org
cbernard@ebrschools.org
dtatman@ebrschools.org