UPDATE: The Good Maps Rolled!
Friends,
Forgive me for this tardy post and for keeping it short and simple, but I want to provide at least a quick update. Last night (Thurs. March 3rd), the EBR School Board voted as planned in its redistricting process on which maps to recommend and to authorize their publication in the Advocate.
The 11-member and 15-member plans were recommended and will be published in the paper....along with all 19 maps introduced at the meeting. (In 2014 only five maps were published.) Publishing 19 maps creates a bit of chaos and is a clear attempt to distract the public, but it is a win. For one, this still allows for the possibility of an 11- or 15-member plan to be adopted. And secondly, I believe this dramatic departure from the typical protocol was pushed by the business-backed board members because they received so many emails in support of the 11- and 15-member plans, they could not kill those maps last night. Introducing all 19 is another attempt to derail an increase in the number of single-member districts, but it also signals that our efforts have not been in vain. We live to fight another day!
Please know that two board members, Dawn Collins and Evelyn Ware-Jackson, did express their support for recommending the Finney 15-member plan and another 11-member plan (the Ware-Collins Plan) due to the number of emails they received from constituents. Thank you so much to those of you who emailed. I know those emails made the difference.
I'll post a longer response at the beginning of next week with more details and the updated redistricting timeline. Stay tuned!