Communities of Interest
My name is Josephine Kwiatkowski. I live at 2078 Elk Ave., Pottsville, PA. I have lived at this address for over 25 years. I belong to the 9th Congressional district. My state districts are the 29th Senatorial district and the 125th House district. I choose to provide comments because, I live in one of the two voting precincts in Pottsville, that are represented by a different House district than the rest of the city. The city and the school district are divided. Pottsville has a population of under 14,000 people. As a House district is to represent approximately 64,000 people it is difficult to understand why the city was divided. I certainly have more interest in what is happening in Pottsville than what is happening in parts of Dauphin County. I often contact my elected officials, by phone, e-mail and post. Even though I am assured that my comments are appreciated and I will receive on response, rarely if ever do I receive a response from any of them. My concerns are not even acknowledged, never mind addressed. Why do they not answer? The simple answer is that they are from “safe” districts, those that have been gerrymandered to get a particular party elected. This practice disenfranchises voters. It makes people less engaged with their government. It makes our elected officials non-responsive. As a veteran these are not the ideals that I volunteer to protect. I ask you to not divide communities of interest. Politicians should not be able to pick their voters, voters should be able to pick their Representatives.