No to Partisan Advantage and Incumbent Protection
I live in Bryn Athyn, an affluent white community that has generally been placed in districts with which it is compatible, so I have no complaint about the way our legislators have represented us. What I object to is the statewide effect of gerrymandering. In my forty-some years as a Pennsylvanian, I’ve been a Republican, and I’ve been a Democrat, but either way I’ve been disadvantaged by gerrymandering. Gerrymandering enables one party to control the legislative agenda, and it allows party leaders to control the rank-and-file members of their own party. Year after year the kinds of legislation that a majority of Pennsylvanians—including me—would like to see passed rarely even make it to committee, let alone the floor. This includes bills to address property taxes, air pollution, water pollution, lead exposure, broadband internet access, crumbling infrastructure, gun violence, the opioid epidemic, school funding, even gerrymandering itself, and many other crucial problems. Bryn Athyn is a nearby suburb of Philadelphia, which, as I’m sure Commission members know is one of the poorest big cities in America. The city’s problems are complex, but it does not help when the General Assembly passes bills designed to tie Philadelphia’s hands and prevent it from attempting its own solutions. In a more representative and responsive legislature, bills of this kind would not succeed. I ache when I read daily in the Inquirer of injustices against its citizens, but even if I had no empathy, I still have selfish reasons for resenting the legislature’s punitive treatment of Philadelphia. I resent it not only because the city’s woes do not stay within city limits but also because the suburbs depend on the city both culturally and economically. Gerrymandering degrades the quality of life for all of us. Please start with a completely clean slate when you draw legislative district lines. No matter which party you belong to, refuse to make partisan advantage or incumbent protection one of your goals. Start to undo the tight knot of dysfunction in Harrisburg. Thank you.