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1This week:
2Mail aylettcolston@gmail.com
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7Regarding your first points: Like you, we recognize the artful ambiguity of the term  "Communities of Interest" (COI). COI is a deliberately wide term. Personally, I feel this legal ambiguity works in reformers' favor. Because COI has not been tied down to one paradigmatic aspect--racial, economic, sexuality, linguistic--it can serve a number of causes. (In my opinion, this is one of the reasons it has been urged in many states). The flexibility of COI, I feel, will hamper gerrymandering. With the right tools, COI can be demonstrated to exist, can be drawn by knowledgable community members, and can be shared to redistricting boards and/or courts. This, we believe, will limit the ability of gerrymanderers to cut COIs in two. 
8
9As you point out, Georgia doesn't recognize COI. However, we feel that even in states where COIs are not recognized by law, 
10reformers can still bring pressure on redistricters. As I like to say, mapping COI makes the invisible visible. In our experience, in states where one party has the power of redistricting, the government is still susceptible to enough publicity and community pressure. That's one reason we're so interested in COI. If we can break governmental trifecta, sometimes that's enough to start the process. 
11
12Our view of 
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14 
15
16The ambiguity you mention works differently in different states. The downside, as you bring up, is that it doesn't have a hard-and-fast legal definition. But we see this as a strength. Because it's not tied down to one meaning, it can serve a purpose. One purpose is to hamper gerrymandering. 
17
18What will you work on this week?This week, when all the edits are in, I'm going to finish Mailchimp; and I'll dive into state legislator contacts with Aaron. I'll continue establishing contacts /w gerrymander-savvy journalists in important states. I have a round of calls with Andrew about collaborating on contacting other partners, hoping to get more of those, as many as possible--with a continued focus on partners in OK AR GA. I want to set up regular calls with the really important partners on the Relationship spreadsheet. I'd like to draft a memo for how to build rapid-response networks in states like North Carolina. I'd like to begin outlining our conference plans for 2020: the ones we discussed during today's call, and the journalist conference we want to have.  If y'all have feedback, I'd like to edit the one-pagers.  Finally, it's December: I want to see where PACE and Tiger challenge are with our NJ/PA project. If they're not interested, I'll find someone who might be inclined. 
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20--------------------
21
22Andrew Milich 11:33 AM
23Sounds good! I’ve been trying to find people in Michigan, Colorado, and California
24But maybe we know people in CA already?
25Aaron 11:36 AM
26I added Colorado to my list based on Jason's suggestion, but in the email I basically said "we would love help in these states in particular, but here are our other priority states if you have any contacts we should speak with"
27Andrew Milich 11:36 AM
28got it, sounds good
29Aaron 11:37 AM
30For Michigan, you could ask Hope to introduce you to Katie Fahey who started the Michigan ballot initiative movement if you haven't already. I presume Katie could be super helpful
31
32
33Follow up with Sect. of State Nellie Gorbea to get in touch with NJ sect. of state for data needs
34
35--------------------
36SW: Thinking about NC. Not sure we could’ve done anything more there. We didn’[t have coordinated rapid response; it’d be hard to build that. Cultivating that local network, that’s incredibly crucial. There were a lot of people in public comment who had noticed Sandhills etc. We need a network. Get in contact with Democratic Senators. It’s easy for us to activate the NJ network in a way we’re not in NC. Continue to build relationships in the states we’re part of. And we can activate the networks. JR should think about this. Have a conference here, have the reformers down there in conference. Get people to come there. Have national figures come together. ACLU, Common Cause, etc.   
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39Background, current process, ideal real-time analysis, other tools for journalists, conclusion. Do we want to do an internship next year? Do we need to come up with a different work product for next year? Possible student-directed conference next year.
40If this will be a regular thing, it must be locally-coordinated. SW feels we didn’t get a lot out of it. HW says there is work product. SW wonders if it’d be worthwhile to have an Eastern reform orgs here -- AR NC VA NH OH MI, that’s everywhere he can think of East. 
41HW if we make it generic, that could work. Here’s *some* data journalism you could do. Here’s some background, legal expertise, it might work.
42SW is inclined to limiting it to two or three states. We’ve completely let go, while fighting fires. Should we host 11 states? Unsure at present. 
43We thought about having a conference, a smaller one. That’s a new idea. We should return to the old idea which is one or two states. Possibly? Should we start small, and then do a big one at the end of the year? 
44SW: Identify dates. Do it when classes not in sesh. We did Maps between finals and commencement. Four times in mind; Between fall and spring semester: Last week of Jan, first week of Feb. Second: Spring break. Third: interval between Spring finals and reunions, anniversary of Maps conference. Fourth: Summer. Let’s plan around these.
45HW and JR study this.  
46
47SAM: 
48ok, I rewrote it. You left a claim that joining the Sandhills to suburban Charlotte made an R-leaning district, which I found somewhat implausible because I do not think suburban Charlotte is R-leaning. Please correct me if I am wrong. Jason, please run the text by Lekha Shupeck and see if it meets the smell test. Lekha is from the Sandhills and as you know is All On The Line's NC representative.
49
50https://docs.google.com/document/d/18-1hKtcUFdaKqjsMoEWDpOKmEar6tapzREU1ZiX_uMQ/edit
51
52
53-----------------------
54
55Hey, just got off call with LWV VA. Deb Wake said there's a possibility that African-American coalition there would really like to use Representable, due to their concern about COI. She recommended we get in contact with Delegate Sia Price through New Virginia Majority. Do you know the 
56
57OK AR VA NJ GA TX
58NM <--- probably
59
60MI scheduled?
61CO reach out to Colorado
62
63
64
65=================
66
67But his instinct has always been to delegate all the authority the man can take and then some, and just drive and drive and push. I don't know how many times he told all of us on the staff back when we first went to work for him in 1939 and 1940, "What about this case? What about that case?" And we'd say, "We talked to So-and-so in the Veterans Administration, and they can't do anything about it." He'd say, "What do you mean they can't do anything about it? There's no such word as can't do. They can do it if they want to. You just let them run over you. You didn't argue with them." We'd protest that we did and so on and so on, but he just was unwilling to take no for an answer. He just drove us. He'd drive us to drive these agencies and drive the people in the agencies to get the answer that he wanted, whether it was a veteran's case or whether it was a dam project or whatever it was. 
68
69
70
71
72
73=================
74
75Our primary role in this process is to validate the data, and put it in a standard format, OpenPrecincts 1.0. Doing so increases the number of people who can use this information. Our goal is to create legislative-quality database that is both complete and maximally available to all comers. Dedication to the open protocol means encouraging a platform which allows easy updating for other groups. Crowdsourcing is more than a ideal--it's a practical necessity for a project like this.
76
77 
78 and we need your help.
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82the information maximally available to everyone. 
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84
85See below. Andrew Milich is ready to start reaching out to find community organizations to try out COI drawing. Can we figure out contacts in some key states? I think you may have contacts catalogued someplace. If not, it's time to set up a database. (person or organization? type of specialty, citizen, technical, reform, racial justice, etc.)
86
87To my thinking, NJ, NC, and VA are top priorities. Are there others? MI, CO, and OH, for example, all of which have new commissions. Basically states where the data will be used, large enough to be useful, and not so large as to be frightening (PA frightens me).
88
89==============
90REPLY TO LEAGUE PEOPLE: 
91
92Deb,
93That's great! I heartily agree with you, and share your concern about the legislature. I've already talked a little with Helen Kioukis about this. Would sometime this week work for you? I'm looping my colleague Andrew in too. We might have a get-together here in Princeton for other interested parties, to explain our new version of Representable. 
94Best,
95Jason 
96
97NJ - Others? 
98Deb Wake
99Helen Kioukis
100Imani Oakley
101Saily Avelenda
102Sue Altman 
103
104MI -
105Christina Schlitt, LWV
106Sue Smith, LWVMI
107
108
109
110
111(609) 258-1286
112Sally Buchanan, Sched and Events Manag
113
114===================
115 
116
117Nell,
118That sounds great! I'm looping my colleague Andrew in as well. 
119
120The tool we're using is an updated version of our Representable software--version two, to be specific. As you probably know, in 26 states, there are laws that mandate that redistricting commissions respect communities of interest (COI). But despite this order, there's no functional method that would allow COIs or reformers to demonstrate the existence of COIs. We think Representable will be a tool well-suited to the task, but we need to hear expert opinion, from the smart folks who are going to be talking with COI. We see this as the first part of a conversation.  
121
122You can see the tool here:
123http://representable.org/
124
125Would a call sometime next week work for you?  
126Best,
127Jason 
128
129@I wonder if you can figure out a way to reach Kathryn Murdoch, nee Hufschmid. See Bob's email below. A possible fundraising prospect.
130Andrew Crutchfield
131could get us to Kathryn Murdoch
132
133
134
135Move the Line meeting /w Imani: 12/3 11:18 PM
136The legislature will be moved around and there's a seat at the end of it. That's the line, and they have to be approved.
137COI with regard to county communities and how they function and work, or the outcome of the process being that COI the obvious one, Middlesex 
138The county line process is cheated 
139JANUARY EXACT DATE TBD
140TRENTON OR POSSIBLY NEW BRUNSWICK, SPACE-WISE, WORST CASE SCERNARIO
141SOMETHING LIKE EXPLORING FIXES FOR NEW JERSEY'S DEMOCRACY
142LEVERAGING NEW JERSEY DEMOCRACY
143DEMOCRACY ROUND TABLE, MARRIAGE OF INSTITUTUONAL PARTNERS COALITION AND GRASSROOTS GROUPS.
144WORKING FAMILIES, BLUE WAVE, TAKE BACK NEW JERSEY COALITION, END DAY 11TH FOR CHANGE, AFTER THE TRUMP REVOLUTION. 
145NJPP, THEIR FOCUS IS NON-PARTISAN,
146IT COULD ALSO WORK THERE.
147WE WILL WANT TO PRESERVE THE PROGRESSIVE ON BENT.
148IF WE COULD PRESENT A NON-PARTISAN 
149Camden -- corporate welfare has helped Camden but others it hasn't helped. 
150Imani gave example of how there's a class piece. The income level and income level and they don't match the level of the people we represent. 
151One of the pieces of this presentation is how is this gerrymandering? 
152The third piece--counterintuitively, her hypothesis is a better shot exists when the robust GOP is better, competitive is a good thing. She'd love to norm the idea that moving some heavily blue districts might be healthy as a whole. 
153- Soft commit to tools, definite go-ahead with us on conference, and they will use the COI tool. She wants pol advtangeous talk about districts, and the COI gets there. 
154- Talk in two weeks. Talk before that. Imani is going to ask the attorney they've got to send the Rutgers. Sue will send me the powerpoint on the line presentaiton .It doesn' have two much text. CWA memo. Packet will be scrolled. 
155End of next week will be doable. Thursday or Friday
156============
157
158Hi everyone, sorry for the delay. Andrew and I are working on COI partners to use Representable. I'm writing the Mailchimp, establishing contacts /w gerrymandering-savvy journalists in the important states, and collaborating with Aaron on contacting legislators and other partners (and organizations). I'm searching for new partner redistricting orgs in OK, AR, and GA. I'm also touching base /w PACE and Tiger challenge,  I'd also like to update the One-Pagers, see what I can do about the journo networking conference, and begin the process of finding students to keep running Representable. If we could finish the Lackman Brief this week, that would wonderful. 
159
160===============
161
162
163LWV ARK talk 12/4 10:30 AM
164Arkansas Public Policy Panel
165They are nonprofit
166Citizens First Congress
167The purpose of that is to give voice to small groups
168Citizens of Gould, Citizens of Marvell in Delta region of Arkansas
169Arkansas United
170 Arkansas Advocates for Children and Family
171Arkansas Hunger Relief and Alliance
172And the LWV Arknasas
173And LWV Washington County 
174They are very involved in the legislative process
175Working on opposing legislation that they think is bad
176Decarcerate - gets ppl out of prison 
177Public Policy Panel 
178Kamar Seals is Policy Director
179Interns, they could put them to work. They could find communities of interest in Arkansas, as opposed to LWV Ark, three to four units spread out in central and northwest arkansas
180SE and SW Arkansas. 
181Nobody with a presence there. 
182Public Policy Panel 
183Kamara Seales 
184The Arkansas Public Policy Panel. 
185BONNIE talking - How have other groups most successfully used the tool, from their experience. Andrew. 
186Our timeframe developing it - change this input format, make it work better on iPad, iPhone, etc. Then i nthe future we'd love to be collecting maps on a mass scale.
187The Arkansas Public Policy Panel. 
188Arkansas United, a lot of different groups.
189We can come down, and show you how to make it, how to use it. We've been talking on how to use it, how to help. 
190Ballot initiative for next week.
191This is the ballot initiative to do the reapportioning after the census.
192We're gonna be the main grassroots organization to be the face of Arkansas. We're a real rural state, what gerrymandering is. Don't know what COI are or what districting is.
193Good way to retrain and educate. 
194Actually developing a map after a year. 
195Working on the training and educational materials. 
196NELL: If we say we're on board and want to use this tool. 
197**** Kamara Seales 
198kymara@arpanel.org
199The Arkansas Public Policy Panel. 
200NELL will contact her, and then talk to her. 
201*** - They have paid people, and they can hire volunteers - ppl there NEED PROJECTS - find government schools! There's a lot of potential to 
202**** Find government schools to help out this. 
203
204
205
206==
207AARON:
208Whenever you've got a second, feel free to take a look at that spreadsheet and fill in contact info for people. I think there's some you've spoken with on there, and if we've had good enough contact, we should move them into the corresponding sheet!
209
210===================
211
212Haha no worries!! I’m just happy to be back on this coast where I stupidly left my insurance card
213So would you prefer MacBook Air or pro? You don’t need to get an apple, but that’s what we all have. Take a look at the apple site (or another company if you want) and try to decide what works best for you
214We all have Pros because we use lots of software, but you might prefer a air so it’s light and you can take it everywhere, if you end up out in the ‘field’ soon
215We could even do one of those surfaces or something that you can use as a laptop and a tablet, maybe for representable demos
216(I’ve heard good things about the new iPad Pro)
217
218
219
220=======
221WRITING TO JOURNALISTS: 
222Kirk,
223My name is Jason Rhode. I'm the National Coordinator for Princeton University's Gerrymandering Project. I read your recent piece about the redistricting map brouhaha with interest. I'd love to touch base with you sometime, if you have a free moment.
224Best,
225Jason
226===================
227
228LWV will be using El Paso group
229- Very quickly
230- Two weeks. 
231- 
232
233Today the Wake County Superior Court, which had ruled that partisan gerrymandering violates the state Constitution, has accepted this flawed process due to concerns that a fully litigated judicial review would substantially delay the congressional primary in March. As a result, the candidate filing period has re-opened under the newly enacted plan. The Court noted that the process and the outcome may not have been perfect, but that this map, and the state legislative one, will both be replaced following the 2020 census.
234
235As of 1:14 the map has become the map.
236Would you like to see if the sentence can be changed for the print edition? As small a edit as possible. 
237COIs matter
238Take into account. 
239Inlcude me in thread. 
240
241The published version that says the quote that claims that Cumberland is split by HB1029, which it is not. 
242Representable and the 5/8 change
243
244
245================
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250
251
252Our brand is realistic solution to a key pressure point to getting something good to happen, realistic ones to a good outcome.
253=====
254
255Andrew writes:
256The Princeton Gerrymandering Project is looking for organizations to help develop and later use version 2 of Representable, which will deliver critical communities-of-interest information to mapmakers. 
257
258
259Currently, no functional method exists to allow state legislatures or redistricting commissions to respect communities-of-interest, despite legal mandates to do so in 26+ states. We're developing a platform to solve this problem and are looking for partner organizations to test and use our platform. Here is a short powerpoint with demo images and a few bullet points. Please let me know if you have any contacts or feedback! We're making changes every day so I'd be happy to answer any questions.
260
261The website here (http://representable.org/) is up and running with a first version and a newer demo will be up soon. If you're interested in the project, I'd love to find a time to speak more about how it could be useful going forward and collecting info to make it better.
262
263
264
265===============
266PEOPLE TO CONTACT FROM FAIR DISTRICTS PA:
267COI from Jessica Jones Capparell: 
268Thanks for getting in touch. All of those contact details are correct!
269I feel like Asian Americans Advancing Justice, NALEO, or the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights might also be good groups to consider when talking about communities of interest. I’m not sure what or if they have exact redistricting programs right now, but they may have things in the future.
270
271 
272PN: Read 538 gerrymander north carolina 
273
274Contact:
275
276Stephanie Osfeldt - Global writers
277- Can we use them? 
278- Look up the investigator she mentioned. 
279
280Fahey <-- Contact again 
281Rayman and Flanagan 
282
283- Michael Weinz - best nat'l gerrymandering reporter in America. 
284
285UHouston:
286boris@bshor.com
287- mentioned during Fair Districts PA
288
289Pennsylvania:
290Jason Altmire (Dead Center)
291Pat Beatty - Leg. Dir for Fair Districts PA
292
293
294Got your info from Dave DeWitt
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296
297
298Ohio: 
299Katy Shanahan, All on the Line, shanahan@redistrictingaction.org
300
301Catherine Turcer, Common Cause Ohio, cturcer@commoncause.org
302
303
304Electeds:
305
306State Sen. Vernon Sykes, D-Akron, (614) 466-7041
307
308
309================
310
311** Notes from Fair Distrcts PA 11/16/19
312- 
313
314Hi! My name is Jason Rhode. I'm the brand new National Coordinator at the Princeton Gerrymandering Project--basically, the outreach guy. Essentially, I'm still learning the ropes, and I've been told you're a person to know. Is there a time we could talk on the phone? At your convenience, of course. 
315
316
317I'm new in this space, so I'd love to touch base with you some time, if you ever have a sec.
318
319We met at Fair Districts PA
320Jessica,
321Good talking to you at the Fair Districts PA meeting! I was grateful for your advice during our convo, particularly about State Voice tables. This is Jason Rhode, the National Coordinator from the Princeton Gerrymandering Project. This is still the preferred mail to reach you at, right? And your number is 202-263-1328, from what your card said. Are there any other groups you'd recommend us talking to about Communities of Interest? 
322
323=======================
324FOLLOWUP TO JOURNALISTS: 
325Nathan,
326Man, it was great talking to you today. Very cool meeting someone who knows what he's talking about! 
327
328So: here's a list of our stuff, plus projects created by some friends of ours. Let me know if you've got any questions. I could also add you to our newsletter, but only if that's something you'd be interested in.  
329
330Us:
331https://openprecincts.org
332http://gerrymander.princeton.edu/
333http://gerrymander.princeton.edu/reforms2019/
334
335Friends of ours: 
336https://davesredistricting.org
337https://districtr.org/
338https://planscore.org/#!2016-ushouse
339
340
341====================
342
343
344
345
346
347
34811/11
349Mail chimp
350Middle of the week newsletter
351Election Kentucky Virgnia Mississippi
352- One option is: now the dems have achieved historic change in VA, they might back down, but they shouldn't; they will able to win with a fair map because of bethune hill remapping. Therefore, it's in their interest tey benefit from fair maps and the principle of fair maps, and championed natuonwide. here in NJ, they have come out in favor of fair districting even when they haven't benefited.
353Talk abot what we did in trenton for one paragraph, Get a photo of them testifying, principle is the import thing, it must be applued even in places like Maryland and NJ, and if you want to hear more about this kind of thing, Cali, is dominated by Dems, and why don;t yiu come out on the 14th and hear the commissioners in person. 
354Photos of us testigyinf in new jersey, california redistricting, maybe the governor. Those are the photos, and the first photo can be of the Bethune Hill map. Jonathan Cevas photo. 
355- Focus on individual people. 
356- Make it about the person, if the court. 
357
358ANOTHER POSSIBILITY: Voting precinct transparency act draft
359Make sure it's still relevant
360Write it up and have it there, easy
361INTRODUCE 
362Aaron is writing an amicus brief for the court 
363- Hope will forward to JR through Email 
364- Invite through mailchimp 
365- SEND ELECTION AND COMMISSION - EVERYTHING COMES BACK TO NEW JERSEY
366
367
368
369===========
370
371Hey
372Hope you're well! It's been a while. I've been hired on a political project at Princeton University. Cool, right? 
373
374So, as part of the hiring process, Princeton wants me to put down references for everything on my resume. If it's okay, I put down your email. 
375
376They might write you or they might not, I'm not sure how it works. But in case you get an email from them, I promise it's not spam. 
377
378I have no idea where you are these days, but I know you're kicking ass and taking names. 
379Also! You won an award, I read!  Congrats!
380
381Best,
382Jason 
383
384Imani Oakley <ioakley@workingfamilies.org>
385cc:	Sue Altman <saltman@workingfamilies.org>,
386Saily Avelenda <saily.avelenda@nj11thforchange.org
387
388
389
390Imani, Sue, Sally, In this discussion, 
391
392
393
394
395
396============
397================
398Ask Kim Lane Sheppele or someone else from Princeton Politics to promote the event to their students, or through their Twitter 
399================
400
401Hi,
402My name is Jason Rhode, and I work for the Princeton Gerrymandering Project. I read  Colleen O'Dea's piece on electoral politics with interest, and I have a story that I thought might be worthwhile to NJ Spotlight. 
403
404The Princeton Gerrymandering Project is holding a Town Hall Event with the League of Women Voters. Three commissioners from California's independent redistricting commission are coming east, and they'll be giving a panel with Prof. Wang next week. If you're curious, let me know.
405
406Best,
407Jason
408
409
410
411================
412SAM - REVISE ON MEMO:
413
414Yes, that's good.
415
416I would shorten it by about one-third, and assume that people only read the first 2-3 paragraphs. 
417
418Also, there's is a fine balance between saying we'll promote competitiveness and saying we'll elect Democrats. Imagine yourself as a Maryland or Illinois Republican - does it still read OK? You get the idea, we have to appeal to everyone.
419
420Now the question is: should we send it out, and what's our goal? If to raise money from big-dollar donors, I guess we can wait until after the election.
421
422Sam
423
424P.S.
425
426
427LOOKUP Rockefeller Foundation Data for Good -- is there a contact there? 
428Abe and Patty at Simons if you want efficient money - draft a memo? 
429
430=================
431
432 We're looking for contacts to try out our COI/Representable tool in several states: specifically, North Carolina, Michigan, Colorado, Utah, Virginia, Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania, California, Arkansas, and Georgia. We've already reached out to the League of Women Voters in these different areas, but we're eager to spread our tools wherever we can. 
433
434We want to build relationships with at least one new partner redistricting organization in Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Georgia.
435
436Also, we want to talk to 5 representatives from state legislatures or redistricting commissions to discuss the following ideas: how they satisfy legal mandates to “preserve communities,” how they have received feedback in the past, how they have incorporated this feedback, and how they want to receive future feedback.