Communities of Interests: A Primer
HOW TO PERSUASIVELY DESCRIBE YOUR “COMMUNITY OF INTEREST”?: Perspective of a Former Vice Chair of the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission (“AIRC”)
Effectively and persuasively communicating your “community of interest” to the AIRC starts with understanding what that term means and what the AIRC does with your information.
BACKGROUND
When redistricting, the Arizona constitution requires the “grid lines” (the district boundaries) to be adjusted to meet six mandatory criteria. “Respecting communities of interest” is one of the six criteria. “Communities of interest” is not defined in the constitution, and current and former AIRCs have not provided the public with an explicit definition. Accordingly, “communities of interest” can mean different things to different people, introducing an unfortunate element of arbitrariness to the term. Your comments to the AIRC, whether provided in writing or orally, will be more persuasive, however, if you focus on a meaning for “communities of interest” in the context of a political redistricting.
The United States, since its founding, has used a district system for allocating representation. Contiguous (connected) geographic areas in states are established, with voters within those areas electing a representative. The elected representative speaks for the people residing in the representative’s district and only those people, and the representative is beholden to the voters within the district and only those voters. (The district system is not the same as “proportional representation.” In fact, it is quite different. Any jurisdiction could require a form of proportional representation; Arizona has not.)
At its core, redistricting is the process of redrawing the district boundaries within a state to equalize the populations within the districts – thereby upholding the value of “one person one vote.” Arizona’s constitution also requires the districts to be infused with other values, one of which is that the districts must “respect communities of interest.” But what does that mean?
MEANING OF THE TERM
When you describe “communities of interest” in the context of redistricting, you should talk about two things: (1) the geographic boundaries of the “community of interest” and (2) a unique “political issue” shared by people within those boundaries. Both are important.
(1) DESCRIBE THE BOUNDARIES
The “community” in “communities of interest” is a contiguous geographic area on the map. Describe its boundaries using roads, intersections, freeways, intersections, municipal or county lines, etc. You also could reference tribal lands, national forests, “suburbs adjoining urban core,” onset or end of agricultural areas, geographic features, etc. If the AIRC is going to “respect” the community of interest on the map, it must know where it is.
(2) DESCRIBE THE “INTEREST” – VERY IMPORTANT
The “interest” in “communities of interest” is best, and more persuasively, described by clearly identifying a unique political issue or “political interest” people living in your community share.
***You should focus on issues that you would want your future representative to be knowledgeable about or, perhaps, address.***
In the context of redistricting, the term “communities of interest” concerns representation at the state capital or in Congress. “Communities of interest” represent a political “voice” that should be heard.
Keep in mind that “communities of interest” can sometimes be different when viewed through the lens of the state legislative map or the congressional map. When you think about your community of interest, ask yourself whether the “issue” or “interest” you are describing is something more likely to be a matter of concern to a state legislator sitting in Phoenix or a congressman sitting in Washington, D.C., or perhaps both.
“RESPECTING” THE COMMUNITY OF INTEREST
The AIRC must “respect” communities of interest so that the unique political “voice” within them, the “interest,” is heard and represented. “Respecting” the community of interest often takes the form of not splitting the geographic area between and among multiple districts. Again, think representation: if the community of interest is divided among multiple districts, the “voice” contained therein might be drowned out. Representatives of those multiple districts might be less likely to “hear” that “voice” when it constitutes a small subset of the representative’s overall district.
Then again, if the community of interest is sufficiently large in terms of population, “respecting” the community of interest could take the form of dividing it so that more representatives can speak for it.
Finally, even if the AIRC decides not to divide the community of interest, “respecting” it also could mean not “burying” it in a district where that “voice” would be overwhelmed by other, perhaps directly contrary, voices.
The AIRC should openly discuss and debate what it regards as valid communities of interest and where they are located on the state and federal maps, voting to formally recognize them, if necessary. Such a step would provide the public with clarity and certainty as to whether the AIRC is taking a fair, consistent, and evenhanded approach to the redistricting. No AIRC has done this yet.
GOOD AND NOT-SO-GOOD EXAMPLES
Think through your community of interest comments in advance. Keep your comments focused, concise, and detailed. If commenting in person, you will likely have limited time, perhaps two to three minutes. Also, because some people fixate on emotional appeals, consider whether you can add one to your argument.
The following examples were inspired by comments made to current and past AIRCs, all of which might have been describing actual communities of interest that the AIRC should have “respected.” As you might see, however, some comments are more persuasive than others:
1. Everyone in my community and the communities that surround us shop at the same stores and our kids go to the same schools. [Unpersuasive: This comment, without something more, describes about every area of the state. Why is this important in your area and in the redistricting context? Why is this important in terms of representation? What are the boundaries?]
2. I ride my bike on the following twenty-mile loop along a green belt, with the area inside a unique community of interest. [Unpersuasive: Good with the boundaries, but what unique political "interest" do the residents living inside your bike route have in the redistricting context? Why should anyone care whether that area is split up in the redistricting? What “voice” will be lost?]
3. Everyone in my town is like-minded politically; we are in a community of interest with several surrounding, like-minded towns. [Needs work: Be careful with this observation. One of the six redistricting goals requires the AIRC to favor the creation of “more competitive” districts. It might sound great to assemble a lopsided, partisan district around you, but your representative is likely to find him or herself in the minority delegation at the capital because your party was “packed” into lopsided districts. If the AIRC is doing its job, the competitiveness goal should work against the creation of lopsided, partisan districts, at least with respect to non-VRA districts. Better to argue here that these communities should be together and not be buried in a district where their voice will be drowned out by voices with very different, perhaps contrary, concerns, e.g., agricultural issues, rural/urban, tribal issues, etc.]
4. I live in school district X and the residents of that school district represent a community of interest. [Needs work: Good with the boundaries, but your school board is supposed to be there to address most issues. What sets your school district apart in a way that would warrant attention by a representative at the state capital?]
5. My community of interest is defined by the following roads, ____. The people living in that area are within a flood zone and wildfire area that has been subject to the following, repeated issues ____. We have common issues related to flood management, wildfire control, emergency services, highways and roads, etc. We feel ignored by authorities. [More persuasive: If true, this argument hits various targets. A geographic area and a distinct political issue have been described. The “common issue” would seem to be something relevant to a state legislator and congressman, thus describing a community of interest on the state and federal maps. The argument also gets bonus points for adding an emotional appeal.]
6. I live in a suburb of City X. Our community and similarly situated communities a, b, and c are comprised of people who work in City X and deal with common issues related to transportation, crime, and education. Our issues are distinct from issues faced by residents of City X in the following ways _____. [More persuasive: The more detail that can be added related to common issues that implicate a state or federal lawmaker, the more persuasive this argument becomes.]
7. I live on (or off) Indian reservation X. The residents of the reservation X have the following unique political issues that are distinct from surrounding area. For example, _______. [More persuasive: Tribal lands can be thought of as a special category of communities of interest because their boundaries are established, and the unique political interests are often well understood.]
8. Rural areas have unique political issues x, y, and z. Our issues are distinct from urban issues in the following ways ____. In part because rural areas are more spread out, rural interest can easily be drowned out when drawn into districts with concentrated, urban populations. Keep rural areas rural and urban areas urban when drawing maps. [More persuasive: The rural/urban divide argument is often made, and it is persuasive. A difficulty in map drawing, however, is that rural areas often need to be drawn into districts with urban populations for population balancing purposes. If you are concerned about a particular area on a map, a better approach is to couple the rural/urban argument with other political interests that are perhaps unique to that part of the map, or even to couple the rural/urban argument to other redistricting criteria, such as compactness, county/municipal lines, geographic features, or even competitiveness.]
The foregoing represents a very small sampling of descriptions of communities of interest presented to the AIRC.
Finally, leftists are great at marshalling masses of people who read from scripts at AIRC hearings. I have witnessed the scripts being handed from one drone to the next. These comments are typically vacuous, vague, unsupported, and sometimes mean or condescending. These “activists” are simply trying to afford their commissioners the leeway they need to manipulate the maps. Better to provide substantive, detailed, and genuine commentary. It helps to have your friends also comment about your community of interest. Your friends and neighbors might have slightly different perspectives but nevertheless recognize and affirm the community of interest you describe. On the whole, this makes for a much more persuasive argument, even if you and your friends and neighbors are outnumbered.
