How much of a priority should the Wake County school board place in not putting incumbents in the same district during this year's redistricting process?
As noted in today's article by Thomas Goldsmith, the guidelines adopted by the board recommend, but do not mandate, that districts shouldn’t pit incumbents against each other. But school board Chairman Ron Margiotta said he thinks representing voters should come before protecting any individual officeholder.
The redistricting process could be made much sticker based on some new information that Margiotta says they received on the issue.
The major reason this particular guideline was adopted in February was based on legal advice from school board attorney Ann Majestic that redistricting out a board member would have immediate consequences. She said the board member would not be able to finish out his/her term, resulting in questions about adequate representation.
Since then, Margiotta says they've gotten some new legal information that a board member who is redistricted out would still be able to finish his/her term.
It would be awkward for a board member whose term runs through 2013 to hang on that long in this scenario. But it wouldn't pose as much of a problem if the board member in question only had to serve out through this November.
Supporters o the board minority have speculated that the majority will try to put Anne McLaurin and Keith Sutton in the same district.
Supporters of the board majority have speculated that McLaurin and Carolyn Morrison are delaying announcing if they'll run again to help some candidates who'd run in their place.
Comments
ZERO
Tue, 04/19/2011 - 16:42 — shearertwHow much of a priority should the Wake County school board place in not putting incumbents in the same district during this year's redistricting process?
Easy one, ZERO!
The districts should be set up for what is best for the school system, children, county, parents, etc.....not current BOE membership which is temporary.
Make inside 440 ONE district Perfect boundry
Tue, 04/19/2011 - 15:23 — Jeff_morseMake one whole district inside 440 Make sense Perfect boundry
I haven't heard anybody talk
Tue, 04/19/2011 - 12:02 — jenmanI haven't heard anybody talk about McLaurin and Sutton being in the same district. I figured that there would be 2 districts overing central Raleigh--Sutton's and either Morrison or McLaurin. Bob, I think you had Morrison covering ITB and McLaurin's district shifting south. I've always thought McLaurin would stay ITB and Morrison would be OTB (I think she lives in Quail Hollow, but I'm not certain). Either way seems logical and like I said, I've not heard anybody suggest McLaurin and Sutton being in the same district. Interesting.
Yup...
Tue, 04/19/2011 - 14:13 — Bob_SconceMorrison lives in Quail Hollow. I definitely had McLaurin's district heading south. As the population has shifted out, there's no justification in having three board members cover Olde Raleigh. And, that's especially true since McLaurin isn't running again -- should the board have a bizarrely-shaped district simply on the off-chance that she'll decide to jump in? I don't think so.
IIRC, my map had McLaurin's district extending south to encompass Fuquay Varina -- I didn't think of it at the time, but the thought of Mrs. Raleigh Mayor having to run in Fuquay is just delicious. I don't know what the R/D composition is, but I have a tough time seeing anybody who's that ITB winning an OTB election.
So...
Tue, 04/19/2011 - 08:53 — Bob_SconceMcLaurin's home precinct is right next to Sutton's district and Sutton's district needs to grow. And, she's clearly not planning to run again. Why do minority supporters care if she's put into his district?
The real question will be what happens with Riemann's precinct. That could go to Sutton or Morrison.