A commission held public meetings on redistricting today in two cities — Newark and New Brunswick — but only about 30 people showed up at each
In this January file photo, members of the Legislative Redistricting Commission listen to speakers during a public hearing held in Camden. One of New Jersey’s 13 Congress members is going to lose a job next year, but from all appearances the public seems unfazed.
A commission held public meetings on redistricting today in two cities — Newark and New Brunswick — but only about 30 people showed up at each.
Even those involved in the slicing and dicing of House districts — a 13-member panel is formed every 10 years to redraw boundaries for House members — acknowledge interest seems to be lacking.
Former State Attorney General John Farmer Jr., the dean of Rutgers-Newark law school and the commission’s tie breaking, nonpartisan member, said people may have "exhausted themselves" over hearings on state legislative redistricting earlier this year that attracted larger crowds.
"In state legislative redistricting, everything’s at stake," Farmer said. "So control of the Legislature is at stake. Control of Congress isn’t really at stake in this."
Because the state did not grow fast enough in the last 10 years, the number of House members sent to Washington will be cut by one. Not only will a congressman lose a job, but hundreds of thousands — and possibly millions — of New Jersey residents will find themselves with a different representative.
While that seat is only one of 435, it still matters, Farmer said.
"It certainly matters to those who need constituent services," he said. "Our delegation I think is particularly strong at providing those. In absolute terms it’s not a great loss."
By comparison, he said, "Texas is picking up three seats and we’re losing one, so there will be some adjustment of influence."
Zachary Israel, a 21-year-old Bard College student from Franklin Park, said the hearing he attended in New Brunswick was probably sparsely attended because it was held on a weekday.
"I’m a student and I was able to come here, but behind me it should be filled with more people," he said. "It’s not necessarily that they don’t care ... It’s just it’s 3:00 p.m. on a Tuesday and people have to work."
But Farmer said that when congressional districts were realigned 10 years ago, the commission met at night and even fewer people showed up.
A total of 15 people testified at today’s hearings, and many comments focused on raising the influence of racial and ethnic voters. And allies of Congress members whose districts may be altered urged that they be tinkered with as little as possible.
Jerry Vattamala, a lawyer with the Asian-American Legal Defense and Education Fund, said voting power had been diluted because the areas where Asian-Americans are concentrated are split into numerous districts.
"Asian-American communities of interest should be kept whole," Vattamala said. "The time to correct this injustice is now."
But Rob Pettet, a councilman from Wanaque, disagreed with the importance that race plays in redistricting.
"I’ll just give my humble opinion, but I think we’re just all Americans, and I’d like to see it that way in this great country," he said. "I think when we get into this idea of trying to divide and split and make all one and get into representations, I think we go down the wrong road."
Councilman Gregory McGuckin of Toms River, who is running for state Assembly as a Republican, urged the commission to take South Jersey’s population growth into account.
"I suggest to you ... that when you begin to draw the map," he said, "you start in South Jersey where the population has increased, and you go forward from there."