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ARIZONA INDEPENDENT REDISTRICTING COMMISSION Friday, June 24, 2011 9:04 a.m. Location Executive Tower - Pharmacy Board Meeting Room 312 1700 West Washington Phoenix, Arizona 85007 Attending Colleen C. Mathis, Chair Jose M. Herrera, Vice Chair Scott Day Freeman, Vice Chair Linda C. McNulty, Commissioner Richard P. Stertz, Commissioner Mary O'Grady, legal counsel Joe Kanefield, legal counsel Raymond F. Bladine, Executive Director Kristina Gomez, Deputy Executive Director Buck Forst, Information Technology Specialist Ana Garcia, Assistant Reported By: Marty Herder, CCR Certified Court Reporter 50162 www.courtreportersaz.com © AZ Litigation Support Court Reporters www.courtreportersaz.com 2 1 Phoenix, Arizona June 24, 2011 2 9:04 a.m. 3 4 5 6 PROCEEDINGS 7 8 (Whereupon, the public session commenced.) 9 CHAIRPERSON MATHIS: This meeting of the Arizona 10 Independent Redistricting Commission will now come to order. 11 It's Friday, June 24th, at 9:04 a.m. 12 And let's all rise for the pledge of Allegiance. 13 (Whereupon, the Pledge of Allegiance commenced.) 14 CHAIRPERSON MATHIS: I'd like to remind the public 15 that if you'd like to speak during our public comment period 16 to be sure to fill out a request to speak form, that Ray 17 Bladine has, and you can give that to our executive 18 director, and we'll be sure you're on the docket to speak. 19 I'd also like to just go through roll call 20 quickly. 21 Vice-Chair Freeman. 22 VICE-CHAIR FREEMAN: Here. 23 CHAIRPERSON MATHIS: Vice Chair Herrera. 24 VICE-CHAIR HERERRA: Here. 25 CHAIRPERSON MATHIS: Commissioner McNulty. © AZ Litigation Support Court Reporters www.courtreportersaz.com 3 1 COMMISSIONER McNULTY: Here. 2 CHAIRPERSON MATHIS: Commissioner Stertz. 3 COMMISSIONER STERTZ: Here. 4 CHAIRPERSON MATHIS: We have a quorum. 5 And since this is kind of our Phoenix debut with 6 our full team, I thought I would acknowledge our legal 7 counsel, two people who have long track records of public 8 service in our state. 9 Joe Kanefield, former counsel to Governor Brewer, 10 and Mary O'Grady, former Solicitor General for the State of 11 Arizona. 12 Thank you both for being here. 13 And I'd like to acknowledge our staff too. Ray 14 Bladine, and Kristina Gomez is around in the back. Buck 15 Forst is here, our chief technology officer. And I believe 16 Ana Garcia is here as well. 17 Thank you. 18 Thanks, staff, for being here. 19 So that takes us to agenda item two, which is 20 recognition presentation. 21 If I could ask Jim Barton to come up to the 22 microphone. 23 From mid-February to the end of May, when this 24 commission was even younger than it is now, Jim was assigned 25 to us by the Attorney General's Office to serve as legal © AZ Litigation Support Court Reporters www.courtreportersaz.com 4 1 counsel for the Commission until we could get our own 2 counsel hired. 3 And Jim did a fabulous job serving this 4 Commission. 5 He did it in an objective and nonpartisan way. 6 He also exudes a quiet confidence that I found 7 comforting. And perhaps this demeanor, I don't know where 8 it comes from, Jim, but maybe it's your years of service in 9 the U.S. Navy as a submarine warfare officer. 10 But Jim is a true credit to the Attorney General's 11 Office and to the people of Arizona. 12 And we're just all lucky to have him serving on 13 your behalf. 14 We're also grateful to Attorney General Horne and 15 to Solicitor General Cole and the Attorney General's Office 16 at large for their support in sending Jim our way. 17 So, Jim, we have a little token of appreciation to 18 give to you, to remind you of our gratitude. And thank you 19 for helping us find our sea legs. 20 I'd like to take this -- and maybe can get a 21 picture actually with Jim, the whole Commission. 22 RAY BLADINE: Colleen. 23 CHAIRPERSON MATHIS: Yes. 24 RAY BLADINE: You might take your glasses off. 25 CHAIRPERSON MATHIS: Thank you. © AZ Litigation Support Court Reporters www.courtreportersaz.com 5 1 RAY BLADINE: I didn't want a picture of you like 2 that. 3 CHAIRPERSON MATHIS: Thank you for snapping me on 4 that one. 5 So we have a hunk of plexiglass for Jim, in 6 appreciation of your sage advice and counsel from the 7 Independent Redistrict Commission. 8 Thank you very much. 9 Photo opportunity. 10 (Applause.) 11 CHAIRPERSON MATHIS: Thank you. Thanks again, 12 Jim. 13 JAMES BARTON: Chair Mathis, and thank you 14 Commission. I enjoyed the opportunity to work with you all, 15 and I confident that you'll do a great job for Arizona going 16 forward. So thank you very much. 17 CHAIRPERSON MATHIS: Thank you. 18 This takes us to agenda item three, call for 19 public comment. 20 And I have a number of slips here, but just to 21 remind anyone if they'd like to address us, please go ahead 22 and fill one out. There's still time. 23 The first person I have is Andi Minkoff, previous 24 IRC Vice Chair, and the subject is mapping consultant. 25 ANDI MINKOFF: I guess I'm shorter than I thought. © AZ Litigation Support Court Reporters www.courtreportersaz.com 6 1 I have a terrible case of laryngitis. Can you all 2 hear me? 3 CHAIRPERSON MATHIS: Yes. 4 ANDI MINKOFF: Okay. Before I begin my brief 5 remarks, on behalf of my fellow commissioners on the last 6 commission, I have to issue an apology to Joe Kanefield. 7 Because Joe performed for us the functions that 8 Jim performed for you. 9 And, Joe, I guess we owe you a leucite plaque. 10 I'll call Steve Lynn, and we'll see about that. 11 But only if we have any money left in our budget. 12 First of all, I want to tell you, Madam Chair, and 13 your fellow commissioners, that probably more than anybody 14 else in this room I feel your pain, if I may quote Bill 15 Clinton. 16 I've been there. I did that. 17 Like Joe didn't get a plaque, I also did not get a 18 T-shirt. 19 But I know what you have committed to, and I 20 commend you for your dedication and your willingness to take 21 on this project. 22 And months from now, when your office wonders if 23 you're ever coming back to work, and your family writes you 24 an e-mail telling you they have forgotten what you look 25 like, I hope you will remember that it truly is worth it. © AZ Litigation Support Court Reporters www.courtreportersaz.com 7 1 If I had known when I applied for this Commission 2 the workload that was ahead of me, I don't know that I would 3 have done it. But when all is said and done, it is 4 probably one of the most satisfying tasks that I ever 5 undertook. 6 And when your task is through, I hope it won't 7 take you nine years like it did us, I hope you will get the 8 feeling of a job well done and of the incredible service 9 that you're doing for your state. 10 First of all, a little bit about me, a very little 11 bit. 12 I've lived in all Arizona almost all my life, 13 since I was three years old I moved to Phoenix. And I tell 14 people I grew up in a small town, now I live in a big city, 15 and I never had to move. 16 It's been a very long time. 17 I am a former teacher of American government. I 18 taught at the Phoenix Union High School District. So the 19 love that I have for the political and the democratic 20 governmental process that we have is very, very intense. 21 I believe in what we're doing. 22 And I believe that the citizens of the 23 Redistricting Commission is really the way to go. 24 Proposition 106, that became a part of the Arizona 25 Constitution after the 2000 election, gave you the © AZ Litigation Support Court Reporters www.courtreportersaz.com 8 1 responsibility to draw the lines and to create the new 2 districts that will be used in our state until the next 3 census in 2020. 4 Boy, that's a long way away. 5 It took it away from the Legislature, for a number 6 of reasons. 7 It gave it to you, and it did not give it to any 8 mapping consultant that you may hire. 9 And that's what I want to speak about. 10 When I came on the Commission, I was very, very 11 consistent. I came on this Commission to help create 12 competitive districts. 13 If my original application still exists, you'll 14 see in my written statement that I wanted to create more 15 competitive districts, not Republican districts, not 16 Democratic districts, but districts where every voter 17 regardless of political party has an opportunity to select 18 their representatives and where decisions are not made in 19 the party primaries. 20 I became a broken record, as a member of the 21 Commission, asking at every step of the mapping process, 22 when are we going to get competitive districts, when are we 23 going to start dealing with competitiveness.