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WHEREAS, the citizens of the City of Pittsburgh and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania deserve a fair, fully transparent, impartial and depoliticized process of the decennial drawing of state legislature and congressional districts of near equal population; and,
WHEREAS, legislative and congressional redistricting has at times resulted in gerrymandered districts that favor one political party over others; and,
WHEREAS, such gerrymandering of legislative and congressional districts has worked at times to the detriment of our representative democracy; and,
WHEREAS, the creation of a truly independent citizens redistricting commission devoid of political motivation or partisanship and comprised of politically diverse private citizens will: ensure a fair, transparent, and accurate legislative and congressional redistricting process that respects political subdivisions; prohibit districts from being drawn to favor or discriminate against a political party or candidate; require the use of impartial and sound methodology when setting district boundaries; require public input; and fully comply with the constitutional requirement that "no county, city, incorporated town, borough, township or ward" be divided "unless absolutely necessary," and,
WHEREAS, adoption of SB 22, sponsored by the Hon. Lisa Boscola, and HB 722, sponsored by the Hon. Steve Samuelson, to amend the Pennsylvania Constitution to reform the decennial legislative and congressional redistricting process with the intent of using fairness and sound methodology in a non-partisan fashion is required to ensure these reforms; and,
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NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Pittsburgh City Council does hereby support SB 22 and HB 722 which would amend the Pennsylvania Constitution to assign the decennial task of both legislative and congressional redistricting to an independent citizens redistricting commission; and,
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that we call upon all those elected officials and party l...
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