The House Committee on Redistricting
77th Legislature
March 28, 2001
4:00 p.m.
Capitol Extension, Room 1.004
Pursuant to a notice posted on March 19, 2001, the House
Committee on Redistricting met in a public hearing and was
called to order by the Chair, Representative Jones, Delwin, at
4:05 p.m.
The roll was answered as follows:
Present: Representatives Jones, Delwin; Glaze; Bosse;
Grusendorf; Hunter; Keel; Marchant; Pitts; Sadler (9).
Absent: Representatives Counts; Dunnam; Luna, Vilma;
McClendon; Moreno, Paul; Wilson (6).
A quorum was present.
David Hanna, Texas Legislative Council gave a presentation on
parameters guiding redistricting of the Texas House of
Representatives.
Windy Sitton, Mayor of Lubbock, testified in favor of
maintaining communities of interest and asked that the city of
Lubbock not be split by Congressional districts.
Jane Cansino of Lubbock spoke in favor of fair and compact
districts which do not discriminate and do protect communities
of interest. She also spoke in opposition to gerrymandering.
Charles F. Hedges, Jr. of Midland testified on behalf of the
Midland and Odessa Chambers of Commerce to support the inclusion
of Midland and Odessa in a single Congressional district.
(Representative Wilson now present.)
Thomas B. Haughey of the Texas Republican County Chairmen's
Association testified in favor of following the county line rule
in drawing house districts. He also spoke in favor of compact
districts and for an increase in competitiveness and in the
number of elected Republicans in Texas and Washington.
(Representative Glaze in chair.)
Carolie Mullan of Lubbock testifed on behalf of the League of
Women Voters to support an appointed bipartisan commission to
handle redistricting. She also supported compact districts and
the use of existing political subdivision boundaries in drawing
districts. She opposed efforts to redistrict based on retention
of incumbents and to use political party strength as a factor in
drawing districts.
Bill Borden of Bellaire suggested that partisan gerrymandering
should be avoided and communities of interest should be
respected.
Darrell Brownlow of Floresville spoke in favor of the creation
of a house district composed of Atascosa, Frio, Karnes,
McMullen, Medina, and Wilson counties. He also presented a
petition of local citizens supporting this concept.
Eugene Pack of Houston testified in favor of respecting
communities of interest and against discrimination and racial
gerrymandering.
Mayor Pete C. Alfaro of Baytown presented a resolution from the
Baytown City Council and a letter from the Baytown Chamber of
Commerce in support of the city being place in as few house
districts as possible.
(Representative Dunnam now present.)
Perry Burnham of Castle Hills testifed in favor of and presented
a City Council Resolution urging that the City of Castle Hills
be placed within a single voting district for all federal and
state elections.
Mayor Joe Putnam of Irving urged that the city of Irving be
placed in one house district.
Mayor Hector F. Garcia of Watauga testifed in favor of the city
being moved from Congressional District 6 to Congressional
District 12.
Chambers County Judge Jimmy Sylvia spoke against Chambers County
being placed with Galveston County in one house district.
David Almager of the Mexican American Legal Defense and
Educational Fund testifed that any plan should reflect the
growth of minorities.
(Representative Luna, Vilma now present.)
(Representative McClendon now present.)
Henry Flores of the William C. Velasquez Institute testified in
opposition to discriminatory districts and in favor of
respecting minority communities of interest. He presented the
results of his study of racially polarized voting in Texas.
(Representative Counts now present.)
(Representative Jones, Delwin in chair.)
Mayor Charles Scoma of North Richland Hills expressed the desire
that Watauga, Keller, Richland Hills, Haltom City, and North
Richland Hills be included in the same house district because of
their shared communities of interest.
(Representative Grusendorf in chair.)
Adrian Rodriguez, representing the League of United Latin
American Citizens and People United for Fair Representation and
Equality spoke in favor of respecting communities of interest in
drawing house districts and also in favor of economic
empowerment and equal representation for Hispanics.
Pat Carlson of the Tarrant County Republican Party spoke in
favor of fair and compact districts which reflects communities
of interest and an increase in Republican representation.
Dan Jensen of Irving testified and presented a petition from the
Greater Irving-Las Colinas Chamber of Commerce in favor of one
house seat for the city of Irving.
David Gutierrez of Irving testified in support of districts
drawn according to the law taking the people of the state into
consideration to achieve equality of representation.
Matthew Miles of Granbury spoke in favor of compact districts
drawn without partisan favoritism.
Mayor David Southern of Granbury would like a house district
which would include neighboring communities with some of the
same issues as Granbury.
George Korbel of San Antonio testified on the county line rule
and on the implications of Hispanic growth in certain parts of
the state in drawing new house districts.
Joy Streater of New Braunfels testified in support of following
the county line rule.
Howard C. Berger, Wilson County Democratic Party Chair, testifed
in favor of District 44 being retained in as much of its current
form as possible.
Bill Owens of San Antonio spoke in favor of more opportunites
for pubic input in redistricting. He also spoke in favor of
equity for populations, racial/ethnic groups, and political
groups..
David Morris of Amarillo testified in favor of respecting
communities of interest and favored the inclusion of the entire
city of Amarillo in one house district.
(Representative Hunter in chair.)
David Cich of Alice testified in favor of keeping Jim Wells and
Duval counties in the same house district.
(Representative Jones, Delwin in chair.)
State Representative Zeb Zbranek testified regarding the county
line rule and communities of interest. He favored the retention
of Chambers and Liberty counties in the same house district.
Leslie Fields of Cedar Hill spoke on behalf of the Texas State
Conference of NAACP Branches to support communities of interest.
The Chair entered into the record written testimony he had
received.
At 8:13 p.m., on the motion of the Chair and without objection,
the meeting was adjourned subject to the call of the Chair.
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Rep. Jones, Delwin, Chair
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Glen Hunt, Clerk