Representative Brownsberger will be participating in a meeting on Redistricting which is being held in Lexington at the Cary Memorial Library, 1874 Mass. Ave. at 7PM on June 9th.
The major redistricting question for Massachusetts is how to shrink our Congressional delegation from 10 to 9, since that reduction is dictated by the 2010 Census. Locally, there are redistricting issues as well.
For example, Will’s district encompasses sections of Arlington and Cambridge as well as Belmont. Arlington has a particular issue with a total of 3 Representatives in the Massachusetts House of Representatives. In addition to Will, Representative Sean Garballey has the largest section of the town, while Representative Jay Kaufman represents Arlington Heights along Massachusetts Ave. You have to ask, why three? Arlington’s population of 42,800 is large enough to form a single legislative district. (average size 41,900). So, an issue for Arlingtonians is, should the town have 3 representatives or just one? More generally, should Will and the other Representatives represent three communities, or concentrate on one or two as the population dictates? What’s feasible?
The state legislature will ultimately determine the boundaries for each district. In preparation for that decision, the Legislature’s Joint Committee on Redistricting is seeking constituent feedback right now.
Chairman of the Joint Committee, Representative Michael Moran, will attend the June 9th meeting in Lexington, so that is a good opportunity for you to provide the feedback requested.
Do you like your representation as it is now? Do you want a change? How do you want it changed? Our State House delegation and Chairman Moran need to know. They are going to be key spokespeople when the vote comes before the House.
Now’s the time to speak your piece. Do go!