Walton County redistricting meeting is next week - Wednesday, June 29 in Paxton at Ag Center at 2 p.m. Traveling from some South Walton locations will take over an hour so plan ahead. There are some nice little restaurants in nearby Alabama you might want to patronize before the meeting. Or consider a daytrip to see Florida's highest point at Britton Hill in Lakewood Park area near Paxton. The Ag Center is on the east side of 331. The Paxton High School is on the west side of 331.
Congressional, State and House redistricting meetings have also begun. Over 250 people attended area meetings in Ft. Walton Beach and Panama City. State and Federal guidelines are posted at
www.FloridaRedistricting.org and the public is encouraged to comment and submit their own plans. Great information about redistricting rules. I particularly recommend a look at Population Over/Under numbers. Current maps of Florida Congressional, State House and State Senate are also easily accessible. A recent United States Department of Justice ruling has confirmed that where an incumbent lives cannot be considered. Having compact and contiquous districts are required. Having compact districts, as much as practicable, was a common theme at congressional and state seat hearings. You can see archived videos of these meetings at above website. Federal laws must be followed in this process. Unless properly and legally noticed, individual committee members could not hold a meeting on redistricting and all communication and emails are subject to open meetings laws.
Walton County Plan 3D does not meet basic redistricting guidelines as it is not compact nor contiguous and should be thrown out. Communities of interest are also divided. The other two plans are in compliance of meeting redistricting guidelines of One Person One Vote, following the Voting Rights Act of 1964 as amended in 1965, are compact, contiguous, and respect communities of interest to name a few.
South Walton has the numbers for two majority districts. People in South Walton have expressed a desire for two districts. The comment that South Walton people were clamoring for three is a mystery and a fable. When new numbers are collected for a possible odd year redistricting, which Walton County has done in the past, it is very likely that South Walton would have enough numbers for two complete districts. Check school numbers and add in a parent or two for some early indications. With just some minor changes to current maps, a fair and equal plan for all of Walton County can be achieved with South Walton having two majority seats, middle Walton with one, and North of Hwy 90 Walton two. District 5 is currently 5,000 people malapportioned. By just moving it back to close to its 2000 borders, equality can be achieved. Thank goodness we got a better census count in 2010 than we did in 2000. Everyone worked really hard to make that happen. Lets not let that hard work go to waste.