FTP - Critical Redistricting Hearing THIS WEEK

Email not displaying correctly? View it in your browser. Redistricting Battle Heats Up Your input is CRUCIAL. Our MO elected representatives are moving lightning fast to redraw the Congressional District lines. So: WE MUST MOVE FAST if we want to have any influence on the outcome. Redistricting will affect YOUR representation in DC (and the direction of our country) for at least the next ten years. Affected MO counties include Jackson, Cass, Clay, Ray, Lafeyette, and Platte. There will be only 2 hearings in KC to weigh in on the redistricting decisions. That is it. Tues, March 1 5:00pm Moreland Ridge Middle School 900 Southwest Bishop Drive Blue Springs, MO 64015 Fri, March 11 12:30 – 3:00pm UMKC (room to be announced) Kansas City, MO Why is this happening and what does it mean? Detailed census data has just been released and the Missouri State House and Senate Congressional Redistricting committees have started their public hearings, with the above mentioned 2 are the ONLY ones scheduled for the greater KC area. Missouri must go from 9 congressional districts down to 8, so the lines for the 4th, 5th, and 6th congressional districts all must be redrawn to add about 100,000 citizens to each of them (the goal of redistricting is for each to be approx. 750k citizens). Do you want MO's 5th Congressional District to be a “safe” district, again, for Cleaver and the Democrats, or do you want it to be drawn more competitively so we – the people – can vote in our choice instead of it being a “shoe in” for whoever the Democratic candidate is? We either move strongly and loudly to be involved or the political class will have their way. And politicians win instead of the people. Again. We need every one of you to turn out and whoever is willing to make a public statement to testify to keep that from happening! It's easier and more impactful than you think! Why? If the politicians draw the lines without citizen input, you can guarantee they'll draw the 4th & 6th as super strong Republican districts and “give” the 5th the the Democrats. Do we want that? NO! There are ways to keep the 4th and 6th Republican leaning while making the 5th more competitive. We say in 2010 that the 5th is so far skewed to Dem (64%!) that this is our chance to make it more balanced so a good candidate can be chosen by the people instead of predetermined by the political parties. What should you advocate? Here are some ideas that will make the 5th more balanced while keeping the 4th and 6th Republican districts: 1. The Committees on Redistricting are supportive of keeping “Communities Of Interest” (COI's) together. COI's are not only based on race or ethnicity, they can also be cities, school districts, neighborhoods, even churches. If you know of a COI that is currently divided by Congressional districts (like Lee's Summit, Blue Springs, Lakewood, Oak Grove, or cetain school districts, etc.), you can testify that you think it should be reunited instead of split up between congressional districts. If a community is united, it has a voice with its representative. If it is divided, its voice is diluted and that is not fair representation. 2. The committee favors keeping counties intact rather than split between congressional districts. So, you could suggest that all of Jackson County to be put back together into the 5th district. (In 2000 the Democrats split Jackson it into 3 Congressional Districts to make the 5th a safe Democrat district and boy did it work!). Uniting Jackson County into the 5th Congressional District would bring school districts, fire districts, in fact, any political subdivision within Jackson County back together with one Representative. 3. Since Jackson County has only 674K residents, ~76K more citizens will have to be added from surrounding counties to get it to 750k. The other counties are Clay, Ray, Lafeyette, and Johnson. The populations of those counties are: Clay - 222K Ray - 25K Lafeyette - 33K Johnson – 53K So, one scenario to propose could be: Jackson + Johnson + most of Lafeyette or Jackson + Johnson + most of Ray This solution(s) have the smallest possible county splitting with the least disruption for the affected county as the area divided will be rural rather than urban or suburban. Only the rural northern portion of Ray or the eastern rural portion of Lafeyette would have to be in a separate District keeping all Metro area counties intact. Scenario 2 to propose: Jackson + portions of Clay This scenario unites Jackson but splits Clay to achieve uniting KCMO as one COI. It makes the second most competitive Democratic leaning District we can have in this area with the same benefits as Scenario 1. Either scenario keeps the surrounding 4th and 6th Districts strongly Republican while making the 5th a competitive District. Now is our time! THIS is every bit as important as any efforts we will make in elections for the next 10 years. The redistricting will essentially determine whether there is even any point to have a Congressional election or if the Representative for the 5th district will simply be Cleaver (or his appointed Democratic successor) by acclamation. Why should they simply be handed this seat? Please respond to this email if you want to testify. Coaching is available. Whether testifying or not, we need you to take time from your busy schedule this Tuesday and turn out in big numbers whether you live in Kansas City or ANY of the surrounding suburbs including those in Jackson, Cass, Clay, Ray, Lafeyette, and Platte. If you cannot attend please contact me about emailing the Committee. 2/27/11 A huge THANK YOU goes out to Jacob and Donna Turk who have been on top of the redistricting issue and sent out a heads up for this network wide alert.

FTP - February 8th Election Helper

February Elections Ah, those February elections! Abysmal weather, lack of notice, practically zero meaningful news coverage all coming together to produce fantastically low voter turnouts! What's not to love? R-7 School District Tax Increase - Feb. 8, 2011 Those of us living in the Lee's Summit Reorganized School District No. 7, affecting parts of Jackson and Cass counties, should carefully consider the proposed operating levy increase we will be voting on February 8th. The proposal calls for an increase on our propery tax assessment of $.89 per $100 of assessed valuation. While that doesn't sound like a lot on the outset, the average home costing $200,000 will see an increase in taxes of over $300 annually. The question is, can residents afford the hike at this time? Your humble correspondent thinks property taxes are pretty steep now. Rather than bore you with a long article, I'm opting to point out a few sites and articles to which other citizens have already made excellent comments. Between the articles and commentary, both sides of the argument are well represented. Only a short amount of time is required to read and make an informed decision. From the reading I have done on this subject, the basic points and questions seem to be: In a time when we are all having to tighten our belts, shouldn't the district be asked to find additional ways to cut expenses, even if it means that some programs currently funded by public money may have to be eliminated? Should parents of public school students to pick up more of the tab for educating their own children in areas OTHER than core necessities? The district is back at the trough and using language, again, to guilt trip and intimidate voters into complying with a tax hike at a time when the future of the economy is a major concern. Why is the district spending so much money on an election at a time of historically low voter turnout? In the interest of fairness, the final two links are the the districts argument FOR the levy increase. LS Journal - Enough is Enough article LS Journal - Ensuring a Legacy article District Info - Election 2011 District Info - Election Truth Flyer View the Sample Ballot. Clay County - Feb 8th, 2011 Kearney R-1 School District residents will be voting on a levy increase as well. Your sample ballot language reads thus: Shall Reorganized School District R-1, Clay County, Kearney, Missouri, be authorized to increase the operating tax levy ceiling of the District by $0.56 per one hundred dollars of assessed valuation for general operating purposes? If this proposition is approved, the adjusted operating levy of the District is estimated to be $4.0623 per one hundred dollars of assessed valuation. Kearney Courier - R-1 Superintendant speaks with Common Sense for Common People founders. Kearney Courier - R-1 Superintendant doubts Governor's budget plan R-1 District Info about Levy Increase To view a Sample Ballot, click and scroll to the bottom for a pdf. North Kansas City or Bust? Bust! Though we spent quite a bit of time looking for information on those running for city council in North Kansas City, we pretty much hit a brick wall. Hopefully those of you saddled with the task of voting for people who can't even seem to be bothered with an inexpensive website or a free Facebook page for the position they wish to hold will have better luck understanding who those folks are than we did. Our apologies for being no help to you. Certificate of Distraction Let's pass HB283 in Missouri for the sake of the sanity of future generations. For over two years now the citizenship and eligibility of Barack Obama has been questioned by many. Recently this issue has gained even more traction in the public mind and in the media with MSNBC's Chris Matthews shedding his own...er... unique light on it. Don't be discouraged by my bringing up Matthews. The video get's better as it goes along. Sponsored by Rep. Lyle Rowland and others, HR283 simply requires that each established political party's candidates for the office of president and vice-president of the United States supply proof of identity and citizenship in writing to the Secretary of State. Doesn't really seem too much to ask. We have much to do in this country and not much time to do it. Distractions such as these are entirely avoidable. Let's do our part to make sure that they are, in fact, avoided. Please take a second to contact your State Rep and let them know you support passage of this resolution. Here's a quick way to get them. The sanity you save may be your own. 2/4/2011 It's more important than ever! Congratulations go out to Greg Brooks and the staff of The Citizen! Unapologetic in it's right of center stance, The Citizen hopes to bring much needed balance to the Kansas City print news scene. The monthly publication will be distributed in the Kansas City area for free starting this week. A pdf of the February issue is available here. You can contact Greg via email and phone with comments and suggestions. gregwbrooks@citizen-publications.com 816-985-1361 What Jack Knows Kansas City's own Jack Cashill has a new book coming out entitled Deconstructing Obama: the Life, Loves, and Letters of America’s First Postmodern President on February 15. This months edition of The Citizen features a full lenghth article about the book. In it, Jack explores the likelyhood that Barak Obama's autobiography Dreams From My Father was written by someone other than the now President of the United States. The Plaza branch of the Kansas City Library will be hosting a Book-TV event featuring Jack Cashill on February 17th at 6:30. Event RSVP here!