Commissioners Pass Resolution Against Redistricting

Haverford Township Board of Commissioners at their Monday night meeting unanimously passed a last-minute agenda resolution against the .

Bill Wechsler, 9th Ward commissioner and president of the Haverford Township Board of Commissioners, presented resolution 1821-2011 to his fellow commissioners after the other resolutions had been passed.

The passed resolution is in protest of the commonwealth’s Reapportionment Commission’s preliminary plan to move the 1st and 9th wards from the 166th district, represented by State Rep. Greg Vitali (D-166), to State Rep. Nick Micozzie’s (R-163) 163rd district.

A number of commissioners, including Wechsler, Vice President of the Board of Commissioners and 1st Ward Commissioner Steve D’Emilio and Larry Holmes, 6th Ward Commissioner, said breaking up Haverford Township would create such problems as:

• Difficult to get grants for the township.
• Some residents would have to drive further to Micozzie’s Clifton Heights or Drexel Hill offices.
• Township officials and residents would have to work with a new state representative who is not as familiar with Haverford Township as Vitali.

“This isn’t a ward 1 or ward 9 issue but a Haverford Township issue,” said Holmes.

He added that the main goal for township officials and Vitali is to keep Haverford Township together, despite the fact that under the redistricting proposal Micozzie would receive more Republican voters while Vitali would get more Democratic voters.

While all of the commissioners voted for the resolution, 5th Ward Commissioner Jeff Heilmann said that he could also see the benefit of having a different state representative for the township, pointing out that Radnor Township is represented by Vitali and State Rep. Joseph T. Hackett  (R-161).

Wechsler says there is a 30-day window for the commonwealth’s Reapportionment Commission to hear any arguments against the redistricting proposal, or exceptions, which is why the resolution was hurriedly introduced as new business. The commission introduced the proposal on Oct. 31 and the deadline to receive exceptions is Nov. 30.

Wechsler also added that resolution would be presented at a public hearing about the redistricting on Nov. 18 at 12 p.m. in Hearing Room 1 in the North Office in Harrisburg. 

Should the redistricting proposal is passed, D’Emilio said he would want township commissioners to invite Micozzie for a meet-and-greet meeting, which James McGarrity, 7th Ward commissioner agreed with.

The Haverford-Havertown Patch received the resolution by Wechsler, which accompanies this article as a PDF document.