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Citizens rightly seek to end undemocratic gerrymandering

Re: Florida redistricting process may not be pretty, but it is fair, letter from House Speaker Allan Bense, Oct. 29.

How dare Rep. Bense use $50,000 of citizen's money to fight a citizen's initiative designed to take redistricting power away from those elected officials who misuse it to guarantee their re-election, and, incidentally, to help keep the majority party in power? Gerrymandering is undemocratic and evil, regardless of who is doing it. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is just as right to try to end it in California as we are here, and Democrats are in control there.

The proposed independent commission's makeup may not be perfect, but it is balanced and also includes three members chosen by the state's chief justice from a list provided him by the Circuit Court justices, who may be of any or no party. Bense says that population data to be used will be seven years old, and that is true, but the redistricting is normally done two years after each census, so the demographics will be only four years older than when last misused by the legislators to gerrymander, that is choose their voters, rather than the other way around. I doubt that the demographics will have changed so drastically, as Bense self-servingly states, as to be faulty.

He is wrong when he says the current system is fair, for it is anything but that. Florida has the chance to lead the way and serve as a shining example for other states to emulate in discarding this evil practice. It is true that Democrats are just as bad when they have the power, but these initiatives will also keep redistricting power away from them when they return to power.

I urge thoughtful citizens to go to www.committeeforfairelections.com download and sign the petitions and mail them to P.O. Box 10130, Tampa, FL 33679, to help improve the badly broken electoral process in Florida.

System isn't fair or competitive

Re: Florida redistricting process may not be pretty, but it is fair.

Florida House Speaker Allan Bense lays out erroneous arguments against the three petitions that are circulating and have been signed by more than 400,000 Floridians. He does this at the same time that he is spending $50,000 of taxpayer money to finance his point of view.

None of the three petitions addresses multiple subjects and no court, as of this date, has decided that they fail this test. They were carefully written to each address one issue. It is not the responsibility of the speaker to "ensure the integrity of the ballot and electoral process," it is the responsibility of Florida's secretary of state, the state attorney general, and the state Supreme Court. As an individual, Speaker Bense certainly can put forward arguments to all three of these entities, but at his own expense, not ours.

The petition which sets the rules for the nonpartisan commission that would redraw the lines, describes how the majority and minority parties would each appoint six members and the chief justice of the Florida Supreme Court would appoint three independent members. None of the members can be politicians or be family or employees of politicians. It would take a super majority of 10 votes for the new districts to be accepted. That means that at least two parties must agree. Currently, it is only the majority party that draws the lines. The citizens of Florida deserve the opportunity to vote up or down whether they like the current partisan way the lines are drawn or would prefer an independent nonpartisan commission.

Speaker Bense is correct when he writes "The process by which Florida draws its political boundaries is not pretty." Nor is it fair or competitive.

Public interest overlooked

Re: Phone rate hikes.

Once again, our elected officials in Tallahassee have proven they do not know what their job is. They are there to watch out for us, to help us, but instead they wear blinders and spew lies.

The latest phone rate hike was approved without our best interest in mind. They say that raising the local phone bill "will stimulate competition." I say, if competition means higher prices, who needs it? I would love to see the day that our elected officials actually work for us, instead for themselves and big business.

Legal interpretation is biased

In recent months, conservative U.S. senators have often recited the maxim, "Judges are suppose to interpret the law, not make the law." The fundamental problem with this statement is that judicial legal interpretation carries the air of neutrality with it while legal "legislation" implies a biased and partisan agenda. In light of the Samuel Alito nomination, the importance of interpretation lies not in its supposed neutrality but in its subjectivity. Why would President Bush nominate a staunch conservative if this were not the case?

Let's be honest about what judges do, even the bright, hopeful Alito: They interpret the law through tainted lenses. To assert that any given judge will be neutral on the bench is, at best, ignorance and, at worst, hubris.

Where's the gunplay?

Well, it's been about a month now since SB 436 became law and removed Florida's "duty to retreat" requirement for self-defense.

I still haven't seen any article in the Times about gun owners turning the streets to blood by shooting each other or tourists. In fact, I haven't read a single article about concealed permit holders using their firearms.

Could the Times' predictions be wrong? Or have I missed this breaking news?

Remembering a racial indignity

Re: Rosa Parks.

I grew up in St. Petersburg. While attending St. Paul's High School at age 14 in the early '60s I had to take the city bus, which included a stop in Williams Park. I noticed that all the black women only sat at the back of the bus while we sat wherever we wanted. I didn't know about racial matters at that time. However, I was taught at home, by my parents, that we were to always give up our seat to an older woman if there were no seats available.

One day - I remember this clearly - about three black women boarded the bus. Seeing that they were much older than I was, I popped up and offered my seat. One of these ladies smiled and gave me a little pat on my shoulder and said, "Thank you child" and then walked on to the back of the bus.

These were hard-working women who did not deserve that indignity. As I grew older and realized what was going on in this country, I vowed that my children would never become racist bigoted jerks. They haven't, but clearly there is much more work to be done in this country.

I never forgot that moment, but I should have stood up and yelled at the top of my lungs that the indignity these hard-working black women were having to bear was wrong, wrong, wrong! God bless Rosa Parks!

We need more Bunnies

What a refreshing and uplifting change to read "Bunny" won't back down in the Oct. 25 St. Petersburg Times. Many, many thanks!

If only we could have more Bunnatine Greenhouses in Washington, D.C., today!

[Last modified November 4, 2005, 01:40:17]