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‘Long and painful death’ endured by Bear Creek man killed by drill, lawsuit says

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<p>Luzerne County Council members plan to vote next week on a resolution supporting state legislation to end gerrymandering, or the practice of carving out representative districts for political advantage in future elections.</p><p>The term was first used in 1812 by a political reporter to refer to a district created during the term of Gov. Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts, according to Fair Districts PA, a coalition of citizens and organizations pushing for change.</p><p>The coalition supports the pending Senate Bill 22 and House Bill 722, which is slated for introduction later this week. The proposals would create an independent commission to determine district boundary lines in effort to take partisan politics out of the process, Fair Districts co-chair Carol Kuniholm said Monday.</p><p>The existing practice of allowing legislative leaders to draw boundary lines is increasingly worrisome because they have access to sophisticated voter data that can be used to tailor districts favorable to parties or candidates they want to keep in power, Kuniholm said.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s much, much worse because of new technology,&#8221; said Kuniholm, pointing to the resulting <a href="https://www.fairdistrictspa.com/redistricting-101-" target="_blank">odd-shaped district boundaries throughout the state</a>.</p><p>According to the coalition, Pennsylvania&#8217;s districts have become &#8220;increasingly contorted to the point that most national discussions of gerrymandered congressional districts include examples from Pennsylvania.&#8221;</p><p>Under Senate Bill 22, the redistricting commission would consist of 11 citizens &#8212; four Democrats, four Republicans and three who are not registered with either party.</p><p>Prospective commission members would be ineligible if they or their immediately family members have held an elective state or federal office within five years. Other prohibitions involving public employment, registration as a lobbyist and political committee affiliation apply to only commission members and their spouses.</p><p>The state Secretary of the Commonwealth must randomly select 40 qualified applicants from each of the three subgroups for potential commission members. Senate and House majority and minority leaders can each strike up to two of these applicants from each group before the secretary again randomly selects the final commission members.</p><p>When hammering out legislative boundaries, the commission cannot consider the political affiliation of registered voters or previous election results.</p><p>After developing a preliminary plan for both congressional and state legislative districts, the commission would hold public hearings and then vote. Seven votes are required for passage, with at least one in support from each of the three subgroups.</p><p>&#8220;No one group could hijack the system or take control,&#8221; Kuniholm said.</p><p><strong>Haas: Not council&#8217;s jurisdiction</strong></p><p>The next redistricting is set to begin in 2021, following the 2020 census.</p><p>Changing to an independent commission would require an amendment to the state constitution. Legislators must approve the new system in two consecutive sessions before the voters decide in a public referendum in 2020, Kuniholm said.</p><p>Luzerne County Council&#8217;s proposed resolution, which was modeled after one approved in Cumberland County, says gerrymandering has been detrimental at times by discouraging election competition and impeding action on critical issues.</p><p>The proposed legislation would comply with the constitutional requirement that no county, municipality or ward be divided unless absolutely necessary, the county&#8217;s resolution says.</p><p>At a recent work session, county Councilman Harry Haas said he supports the concept because gerrymandering has hurt the country. But he questioned why council members are getting involved in matters outside their jurisdiction.</p><p>&#8220;We keep opening up this council to issues that fall outside of what we are supposed to be doing here,&#8221; Haas said.</p><p>Council Chairwoman Linda McClosky Houck, however, noted Haas was among the 10 council members who voted in February for a resolution asking the state and federal government to support new anti-corruption legislation.</p><p>Haas said he also wrestled with that decision due to jurisdictional concerns. He does not know how he will vote on gerrymandering but he believes it has inappropriately changed many districts in the state.</p><p>&#8220;What we see now in these recent decades, it&#8217;s &#8230; outside what the Founding Fathers wanted,&#8221; Haas said.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Haas </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/web1_haasuse.jpg</photo0><caption0>Haas </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/web1_lindahouck-2.jpeg">
<div class="neCaption">McClosky Houck </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/web1_lindahouck-2.jpeg</photo1><caption1>McClosky Houck </caption1><photoCredit1></photoCredit1></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Jennifer Learn-Andes</p><p>jandes@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><factboxMeta><p>What&#8217;s next</p><p>Luzerne County Council will meet at 6 p.m. May 9 at the county courthouse on River Street in Wilkes-Barre.</p></factboxMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Jennifer Learn-Andes at 570-991-6388 or on Twitter @TLJenLearnAndes.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Luzerne County Council to weigh in on anti-gerrymandering legislation