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Redistricting commission unveils first set of maps
After months of administrative drudgery and political tumult the five-person panel charged with redrawing Arizona’s political districts released their first set of working maps Saturday.
IRC split on cooperating with AG investigation
The Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission could stumble into another partisan divide, but this time it involves whether members will cooperate with Attorney General Tom Horne’s investigation into whether the commission violated open meeting and procurement laws when it hired a mapping consultant in June.
Attorney General Tom Horne announces redistricting commission investigation
Attorney General Tom Horne has announced his office has opened an investigation into the Independent Redistricting Commission in response to an investigation by Arizona Capitol Times and its sister publication, Yellow Sheet Report, that uncovered possible violations of the state’s open meeting and procurement laws.
What we’re not IRC-ing: Map-drawing panel spends half its time meeting behind closed doors
Prior to voting to award a lucrative contract to a mapping consultant on June 29, the Independent Redistricting Commission had spent as much time in closed door executive meetings as it had before the public.
And public records held by the commission itself, as well as statements made by commissioners, indicate the IRC may have violated Arizona’s open meeting laws designed to maintain[...]
Redistricting panel hires D.C.-based, Democratically connected mapping firm
Arizona’s Independent Redistricting Commission decided Wednesday to hire Strategic Telemetry, a Washington D.C.-based mapping firm, to serve as the group’s mapping consultant.
IRC off to a slow, slower and painful start
You wouldn’t naturally expect people to become angry before a state commission redraws Arizona’s legislative and congressional districts, but thanks to the trending wave of dysfunction, that’s exactly what has happened.
Free redistricting tool uses incredible power of ‘crowdsourcing’
In regards to the article, “Commissioners eye free mapping software, say it could be used differently than creators intended” Arizona Capitol Times, May 8, we offer the following to address concerns noted by some of the members of Arizona’s Independent Redistricting Commission.
Redistricting commission’s attorney selection prompts criticism from Republicans
Arizona’s Independent Redistricting Commissioners split along party lines Friday over who will serve as the group’s legal counsel, with the commission’s independent chair siding with the Democrats to select the firms Ballard Spahr and Osborn Maledon.
Commissioners eye free mapping software, say it could be used differently than creators intended
Although all five members of Arizona’s Independent Redistricting Commission have said they're either aware of, or had logged into, the online mapping software that was released to the public recently by the Arizona Competitive Districts Coalition, which has a stated goal of increasing the number of “competitive districts,” they don't all agree about how it will be used.
Two remain for IRC executive director post
During a closed-door executive session last week, Arizona’s Independent Redistricting Commission selected the final two candidates vying to serve as the agency’s executive director.
The commission interviewed five candidates, selected from among several dozen more, for several hours during the private April 14 meeting, then chose two of the five for additional interviews April 20 [...]
IRC budget based on experience and guesswork
The last statement James Huntwork made as a member of the first Independent Redistricting Commission in his last meeting in June 2009 was that the next IRC would need “a lot of money.”
How much money the newly seated IRC will need is a mystery.
But the thinking of those involved with the first one is that the legal disputes, which consumed so much money last time, will be[...]
IRC choice for chairman: Independent Colleen Mathis
The four partisan members of the Independent Redistricting Commission appointed a politically independent chairwoman on Tuesday, and made public pledges to cooperate with each other through what some believe will turn into anything but a nonpartisan task.
