New Garden’s Board of Supervisors will consider a resolution next month in support of legislative efforts to create an independent redistricting reform commission in Pennsylvania
It’s part of an effort by Fair Districts PA, a nonpartisan statewide citizens group whose goal is to end gerrymandering – a term used to describe when voting districts are redrawn to benefit those in a particular political party.
David Unger, a member of the Committee for Kennett Area Democrats, presented a slide show on behalf of Fair Districts PA to the supervisors and the audience at Monday’s meeting that detailed the need for redistricting reform.
Kennett Consolidated School District, Unger pointed out, was a perfect casualty of gerrymandering because schools are in different legislative districts. Specifically, Kennett High School and Mary D. Lang Kindergarten Center are in Kennett Borough, which is in the 160th PA House District, the 9th PA Senate District, and the 16th U.S. House District. Greenwood Elementary is in Kennett Township, which is in the same state House and Senate districts but is in the 7th U.S. House District. Kennett Borough is carved out from part of Kennett Township. The other half of the township is in the 158th PA House District. New Garden and Bancroft elementary schools and Kennett Middle School are in New Garden Township. All three schools are in the 158th PA House District, the 19th PA Senate District, and the 7th U.S. House District.
“You have one school district, with schools in three municipalities, split three different ways,” he said. “It’s not contiguous in the Pennsylvania House, the Pennsylvania Senate, or the U.S. House.”
Pointing to a map of the 7th U.S. House district, Unger ran a laser pointer from Reading down to Lancaster, to New Garden, across to Delaware County, and to the other end of the district. Audience members snickered and then burst into laughter as he described the shape of the 7th District as “Mickey Mouse kicking Goofy.”
“Our assertion is that [the 7th District] is not contiguous nor compact,” Unger said. “So why was it able to happen?”
He asked for general support from the supervisors of nonpartisan redistricting. New Garden Township Manager Tony Scheivert said the matter would be discussed at the August meeting.
Fair Districts PA and the League of Women Voters are encouraging grassroots support of bills currently in the Pennsylvania legislature, which seek to amend the constitution of Pennsylvania so an independent commission could work on future redistricting reform.
Volunteers throughout southern Chester County and across Pennsylvania have attended municipal meetings in the hopes of having municipal officials pass resolutions in support of redistricting reform. Many have gone door-to-door, gathering residents’ signatures, to show officials that redistricting affects people of all political parties.
Municipalities that have passed resolutions include:
- Downingtown Borough
- East Marlborough Township
- East Pikeland Township
- East Whiteland Township
- Kennett Square Borough
- Kennett Township
- Malvern Borough
- Phoenixville Borough
- West Chester Borough
- West Goshen Township
- West Nottingham Township
For more information, go to www.fairdistrictspa.com.
About Monica Fragale
Monica Thompson Fragale is a freelance reporter who spent her life dreaming of being in the newspaper business. That dream came true after college when she started working at The Kennett Paper and, years later The Reporter newspaper in Lansdale and other dailies. She turned to non-profit work after her first daughter was born and spent the next 13 years in that field. But while you can take the girl out of journalism, you can’t take journalism out of the girl. Offers to freelance sparked the writing bug again started her fingers happily tapping away on the keyboard. Monica lives with her husband and two children in Kennett Square.
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