Commission Member: Reapportionment Map a ‘Disappointment’

A proposed redistricting map by the commonwealth’s Legislative Reapportionment Commission that will alter 28 Senate districts and 43 House districts—which would mean that Haverford Township’ wards 1 and 9 could move from the 166th district to the 163rd—is a “disappointment” said a commission member.

After finding out that the commission approved in a 4-1 vote a proposed plan to reshape many of Pennsylvania’s districts, the Haverford-Havertown Patch reached out to .

On Saturday Costa’s public relations officer Hugh Baird responded to Patch’s email request for information about the state senator’s vote. Baird wrote that Costa issued a press release that shows the state senator’s statement regarding the proposed reapportionment plan.

“The final map is the product of a broken and bewildering process in which the public was ignored and negotiation was illusory. The map is a total disappointment,” Costa said.

“… Unfortunately, we are right back to where we started when the Supreme Court rejected the previous gerrymandered map. Incredibly, in the face of clear guidance from the court and provisions of the state constitution, the commission adopted another gerrymandered map,” Costa added.

Costa is referring to a near similar proposal that in January, ruling that it was not “contrary to law.”

However commission member and Majority Leader Sen. Dominic Pileggi’s (R-9) Communications and Policy Director Erik Arneson wrote to Patch in an email recently that the court remanded the plan because redistricting numbers were “too great.”

“The court did not remand the original final plan due to any specific split wards, municipalities or counties. Rather, they remanded the plan because they believed that the overall number of splits was too great and because some districts were not compact enough,” Arneson wrote.

Costa went on to claim that the proposed map had “too many inexplicable and unnecessary partisan county splits” that went against the court’s ruling and the constitution.

He also alleged that Republicans used different information when they drew eastern and western districts of the state in the proposal that would benefit the GOP.

State Rep. Greg Vitali (D-166), who represents the parts of Haverford Township that would be relocated to State Rep. Nick Micozzie’s (R-163) district if the proposal is approved, have maintained that the redistricting is a GOP ploy to gain more voters. Although, he has admitted that if the plan were to be approved he would gain more voters as well but he has stated that he wants to keep Haverford Township intact.

about the previous proposed plan Pileggi stated that, “The commission’s plan was approved with a bipartisan vote—both the Democratic House Leader and the Republican House Leader voted yes.”