Concerns with Berks County Redistricting Plans
Concerns with the Pennsylvania Legislative Reapportionment Commission’s Preliminary Redistricting Plans for Berks County Submitted as a Public Comment 7 January 2022 Context: The Pennsylvania Legislative Reapportionment Commission’s Preliminary Redistricting Plan is currently soliciting Pubic Comments on its plan. The comments and concerns expressed in this document are focused on the redistricting of Berks County as a whole and more specifically on the proposed Legislative District 129 and the City of Reading. The geographic layout of District 129 makes hardly any sense at all for the reasons described herein. It is hoped that the Commission will take seriously these arguments which are presented and formulate a revised redistricting plan which is in more alignment with the Pennsylvania Constitution’s redistricting criteria for District 129 as well as for the county as a whole. These comments are made with the total understanding that any redistricting efforts are extraordinarily complex and always subjected to multiple, constant criticisms. Redistricting is a tough job and it needs to perform its mission in a manner that results in minimal harm to the citizens and county government officials who are impacted by the redistricting efforts. One would think that one of the main goals of any redistricting would be to not only to be in-line with the Pennsylvania Constitution’s criteria but also to make changes that will result in only minor changes to the previous district’s geographic boundaries to avoid major disruption in the way that our representative government functions. As an interested citizen who has communicated extensively with Berks County Commissioners, PA Legislators, and PA Senators on various issues that are primarily related to improving the quality of government programs, services, and policies, the fewer the number of Pennsylvania legislators and senators who interface with the county commissioners the better. Both the county and the state representatives need to work in concert as much as possible for the overall benefit of the Berks County citizens in as effective and efficient manner as possible. Additionally, as will be pointed out in this document, any Berks County’s redistricting efforts should be focused on minimizing the number of PA representative senators and legislators. This can be achieved by working to have the representatives redistricted to be able to consolidate their representation of Berks County citizens and not required to split time also representing the residents of adjacent counties or cities. The redistricting plan currently results in having three (3) state senators when two (2) would be sufficient and eight (8) state legislators when seven (7) would be sufficient. Any additional representatives place additional burdens on county government including but not limited to the county election services work load. The more representatives a county possesses, the more diluted that the state representation becomes regarding the citizens who reside in the county. More optimal redistricting of Berks County can significantly help reduce the intergovernmental coordination issues and also go further to meet the Pennsylvania redistricting criteria. Comments – Redistricting Criteria: As you know, the Pennsylvania Constitution Article II – Section 16 defines the redistricting criteria. It states very simply that “unless absolutely necessary, no county, city, incorporated town, borough, township or ward shall be divided in forming either a senatorial or representative district.” Evaluating – Redistricting Plan’s Compliance with the PA Constitutional Criteria: While the redistricting plan has a uniform approach to having approximately 65,000 of the district’s population represented by a PA Representative and about 260,000 of the district’s population represented by a PA Senator, unfortunately, the preliminary redistricting plan for Berks County, the city of Reading, various townships, such as Spring Township, fail to satisfy the constitutional statute’ criteria requirements related to focusing on keeping county, city, township, and borough boundaries intact as much as possible. It appears that for the Berks County redistricting plan that paying attention to boundaries has not received the redistricting priority and focus that they should have at any level, county, city, or township, etc. Below are some examples of this concern with the redistricting plan’s inability to satisfy the constitution’s boundary criteria throughout the Berks County: a. In examining the overall Berks County state legislative redistricting plan, some of the county boundaries are shared with two (2) of the eight (8) county legislative districts with other counties: Lancaster and Schuylkill. b. In examining the overall Berks County state senatorial redistricting plan, some of the county boundaries are shared with three (3) of the three (3) county senatorial districts with other counties: Lehigh, Lebanon, and Lancaster. c. In examining the City of Reading, Reading has a population of about 88,000. A city of this size could reasonably have one representative who could represent 65,000 people plus another legislative representative who represents the remaining 23,000 Reading population. Currently the Commission’s redistricting plan would have the city is represented by a total of 3 legislative districts [126, 127, 129] which is more than twice what would have satisfied the criteria. d. In examining the township boundaries noncompliance with the constitutional criteria, Spring Township with an overall population of 28,500 has been carved up into 3 legislative districts [005, 099, 129] while it fortunately has not been divided into multiple senatorial districts. e. Other examples of townships being carved up in Berks County are Cumru Township with 3 legislative districts [099, 127,128] and Exeter Township with 2 legislative districts [126, 128]. Fundamental Argument for Revising the Redistricting Plan for Berks County and District 129: A strong case for keeping Berks County’s Spring Township consolidated as it had been previously can certainly be made and needs to be weighed very heavily by the Committee. Spring Township is a reasonably large township governed by three supervisors and the home for Wilson High School. Having the proposed Spring Township district divided into 3 distinct legislative districts [005, 099, 129] unnecessarily complicates the township’s current cohesiveness and places additional burdens on the township’s supervisors and departments in not only having to interface and coordinate with two (2) additional legislator’s needs and inquiries but also would have the two additional legislative representatives having to split considerable time and efforts with adjacent townships and the City of Reading which would simply slow down issue resolution response time. Additionally, the Berks County Conservation District (BCCD), which interfaces with the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, has an agreement in the form of a Memorandum of Understanding with Spring Township to perform wastewater management oversight and remediation. The BCCD is already hard pressed to cover all of the work that needs to be monitored and regulated in Spring Township and does not need additional intergovermental interfaces. Conclusion and Recommendations: The current redistricting plan for the reasons cited above is unacceptable and more careful efforts are truly needed for the plan to meet the clearly defined criteria of the Pennsylvania Constitution. Otherwise, the plan is rightfully subject to considerable criticism including having been based on political gerrymandering leanings which can only be presumed is not likely a criticism that the Commission wants to be accused of implementing in its plan. So what’s the recommended solution for possible redistricting realignments in Berks County, the City of Reading and Spring Township to place all three in more of a WIN, WIN, WIN position? Berks County as a whole needs to have very careful reconsideration by the Commission to assure constitutional compliance and to design the redistricting in a way that does more to serve the people of Berks County and its county and municipal government organizations. There needs to be a minimal amount of state senatorial and representatives sharing their duties beyond the confines of the Berks County boundaries. From a geographical perspective, the plan for District 129 should extend no further to the East then where State Routes 222 and 422 boarder the district. The eleven (11) City of Reading Wards with a population of 25,200 should be replaced with the consolidation of all the precincts of Spring Township. This would add to Spring Township’s currently assigned precinct population of 15,700 another 12,700 people for a combined Spring Township population of 28,400. Also, the addition of other Berks County townships of Lower Heidelberg, South Heidelberg, North Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Tulpehocken, Marion, Bethel, and Jefferson would enable the District 129 population requirements to be satisfied. Respectively submitted, John and Jean Archer Spring Township (610) 823-4228