League of Women Voters of Arlington to debate redistricting

by Barbara W. Prabhu of League of Women Voters

Arlington City Councilman Mel LeBlanc, community activist Marvin Sutton, and UT Arlington Professor Jose Gutierrez will discuss the pros and cons of redistricting.

On Monday, October 13, the Arlington League of Women Voters will host a panel discussion about Local and State Redistricting at the Pantego Lions Club, 3535 Marathon, Pantego. Doors open at 6:45 p.m. The public is invited.

Invited panelists who will debate flaws and merits of redistricting in Texas and Arlington are Arlington City Councilman Mel LeBlanc, community activist Marvin Sutton, and UT Arlington Professor Jose Gutierrez. A question and answer period will follow the panelists’ presentations.

“The League strongly supports legislation which would establish a nonpartisan redistricting commission in Texas, to design boundaries for congressional districts and the state House and Senate districts, following each decennial census,” said LWVA President, Tonya Presley. “Texas has experienced prolonged wrangling after each census due to a flawed partisan process resulting in court assigned redistricting, contentious mid-decade redistricting, and court challenges that last almost to the beginning of the next census-taking period. We hope to make the public aware of how important it is to change this process.”

The League of Women Voters of Arlington, a non-profit and non-partisan organization of volunteers, holds frequent public forums on issues of concern to the community, and influences public policy through education and advocacy. LWVA’s mission is to promote political responsibility through informed and active participation of citizens in government. Membership is open to all citizens of voting age. For further information call 817-472-5982 or visit www.LWVArlington-Tx.org.