Upcoming Meetings 2011
November 17, 2011
Councilman Todd Huff
December 15, 2011
Christmas Party
Meeting Information
Show your support for conservative principles, meet like-minded individuals in your area including our elected officials, and get involved. Our meetings center around action items to grow the party, grow the club, and promote conservative principles. Lots of opportunities for political activism, leadership roles, social events, and educational topics. Be an informed and involved citizen and make a difference!
General Meetings
Monthly general meetings are held on the third Thursday of each month at 6:30pm at Greene Turtle Hunt Valley, 118 Shawan Road, Hunt Valley, MD 21030.
Club Officer Elections
Club officer elections are held during the first meeting of each even-numbered year. Officers serve a two-year term.
We need your help:
There are a number of ways to get involved.
- Community association liaison: talk to community association members about redistricting
- Testify at public input hearings
- Email your personal contact list with the redistricting letter and info sheet to help spread the word
- Email/phone elected officials to ask for a fair and constitutional redistricting process rather than gerrymandered maps
- Write letters to editors of local papers
- Call in to radio shows
- If it comes to referendum, help collect petition signatures
If any of the above interests you, we can give you any further direction needed. Let us know what you can do by emailing Ann at allsixofus@comcast.net.
Articles:
Basic county redistricting info
http://baltonorth.blogspot.com/2011/03/redistricting-faq-for-baltimore-county.html
Community and representation impacts of gerrymandering
http://www.bayjournal.com/newsite/article.cfm?article=3999
Valid arguments on county redistricting
http://www.examiner.com/county-republican-in-baltimore/what-is-the-definition-of-community-per-the-county-redistricting-manual
Find your district:
Congressional and state ---- http://mdelect.net/electedofficials/
County ----- http://egov2.baltimorecountymd.gov/votingweb/Address.aspx?pageid=2
District maps:
http://www.baltimorecountymd.gov/Agencies/infotech/geographic_information_systems/static_maps/oit_viewable_maps.html
Detailed source info on redistricting rules:
County (click on “redistricting manual”)
http://www.baltimorecountymd.gov/countycouncil/redistricting.html
Congressional and state
http://redistricting.state.md.us/maryland/
Information on testifying at a county public input hearing:
The three hearings in the county begin at 7pm, but registration for testifying begins at 6pm. Be sure to come early to find parking and register to testify.
You will typically be allotted 2-3 minutes to testify. It is timed. You must identify yourself. Write out your testimony and bring it with you. It is perfectly acceptable to read it as your testimony.
Be matter of fact rather than emotional. Stick to valid arguments.
You can take the whole three minutes to explain how gerrymandering has effected your community, or be as brief as to simply state that you demand rule compliance in the redistricting process. Plan two testaments - one for 2 minutes and one for 3 minutes.
You can bring cameras and recorders into the hearing room.
You do not have to testify to be present, but it sure helps our cause.
It is always good to be prepared with a one or two line interview spiel - just in case you are asked for a statement by a press member. Say the spiel no matter what leading question they ask you. It could be something like: “We are here today in a non-partisan effort to demand a fair and constitutional redistricting process rather than one that is gerrymandered to protect incumbents. Gerrymandering negatively impacts the quality of representation we receive as citizens.”
Why it’s important for you to be involved in the redistricting process
Redistricting is the decennial process of redrawing district boundaries on the congressional, state, and county levels, occurring after each census. Districts are required to be approximately the same in population, based on the latest census data.
The purpose of districts is to ensure a fair representation of citizens by our elected officials on all three levels of government. On the federal level, we divide the population into Congressional Districts, which are represented by our congressmen in the House of Representatives. On the state level, Legislative Districts are represented by our state senators and delegates. And on the county level, Councilmanic Districts are represented by our county councilmen.
The dirty little secret is that, instead of redistricting in order to guarantee fair representation of the people, it is abused by our leaders to ensure re-election of members of the party in power. This is referred to as gerrymandering. Maryland is one of only two states in the nation in which redistricting is controlled by the governor.
Gerrymandering has political consequences, but it also has community consequences. Instead of ensuring that communities are kept together and represented by one set of elected officials, the results are sometimes that communities are divided by two or even three districts, reducing the quality of that community’s representation and even disenfranchising voters since it is split between multiple elected officials. Such is the case in Phoenix, Timonium, Glyndon, and other communities in Baltimore County.
In 2002 when the districts were last redrawn, the districts were so misshapen and illogical from a representative standpoint, that the maps were challenged in the Maryland Court of Appeals, found to be unconstitutional, and were ordered to be redrawn. The redrawing improved the maps, but still leave much to be desired. Just take a look at Legislative District 7, which runs from Middle River, into Harford County, and across Kingsville to Cockeysville. What does a waterfront property owner in Middle River have in common from a community standpoint with a farmer in Phoenix or an apartment dweller in Abingdon? Or, in the case of Congressional District 1, how about Cockeysville and the Eastern Shore?!
Per the Maryland Constitution: “Each legislative district shall consist of adjoining territory, be compact in form, and of substantially equal population. Due regard shall be given to natural boundaries and the boundaries of political subdivisions.”
The time is now for communities to express their desire for common sense district boundaries that are drawn according to constitutional and charter requirements rather than political agendas. It’s the difference between the voters choosing their representatives in a fair election and the politicians choosing the voters they wish to represent through gerrymandering.
Will you join with the Reagan Republican Club and other organizations in Baltimore County in the protection of our communities? On April 12, 13, and 28, the county redistricting commission holds public input hearings. This is our chance to participate in the process. Starting in May, we will conduct a countywide email and phone drive to our representatives on the congressional, state, and county levels.
Please email Ann Miller at the Reagan Republican Club and let us know you are willing to help. We can send you a sample letter and answer any questions you may have about redistricting.
Reagan Republican Club
P.O. Box 9, Lutherville, MD 21094-0009