Burnt Orange Report

More on McAllen Hearing

By Byron LaMasters

The McAllen Senate Redistricting Hearing yesterday was shut down for an hour and a half before it started. Here's the report from the McAllen Monitor:

A public hearing before the State Senate Committee on Jurisprudence was delayed for an hour and a half while hundreds of protestors representing the United Farm Workers and the G.I. Forum of America beat a drum and chanted “We want DeLay” and “Shut it down.”

The protestors, who arrived on buses from Corpus Christi, left the McAllen Civic Center quietly after Sen. Robert Duncan, R-Lubbock, chairman of the committee, agreed to have a public hearing in that city on Monday afternoon.

Their chants referred to U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Sugar Land, who has been accused of driving the congressional redistricting issue in Texas in an effort to try and gain more Republican seats in Congress.

Congressional redistricting usually occurs every 10 years, or after a U.S. Census, to reflect changes in population numbers. The current lines were produced by a federal court just two years ago after the State Legislature failed to produce a map of its own.

As of 3 p.m. Tuesday, more than 500 people had signed up to testify on the congressional redistricting matter. Once the protestors exited the building and the hearing officially began at 4:30 p.m., about 200 people remained in their seats to hear public comments that began with elected officials.

State Sen. Juan “Chuy” Hinojosa, D-McAllen, and U.S. Rep. Ruben Hinojosa, D-Mercedes, at first tried to calm the crowd so testimony could begin.

“Please stop the drum,” Ruben Hinojosa said. “I promise your voices will be heard.”

But the drum and chants continued.

McAllen police officers and Texas Department of Public Safety troopers flanked the stage where the committee sat. More troopers waited in the wings. Juan Jalomo of the McAllen Fire Department tried to keep the aisles clear of crowds.

Juan Hinojosa watched the demonstrators with a concerned look on his face, but said the committee did not want to use police force to bring order to the hearing.

“They have the right to demonstrate and they’re protected by the Constitution,” Hinojosa said. “There is nothing wrong with what they’re doing.”

The state senator said the committee encountered similar situations in other public hearings around the state. He also said the committee members did not have travel plans for Tuesday night and were prepared to stay and listen to testimony all night if necessary.

Duncan already looked weary as he banged his gavel three times and Ruben Hinojosa appeared at the podium as the committee’s first witness. Hinojosa’s congressional seat, anchored in Hidalgo County, is threatened by the Republican-backed plan.

“The current GOP plan is igniting a massive outcry,” Hinojosa said. “About 75 percent of people have implored the state Legislature to vote against redistricting.”

The congressman reminded the committee about past sessions in which the subject came up.

“In 1981, after the census the governor called a special session to deal with redistricting,” Hinojosa said. “In 1991 another special session was called again for redistricting. In 2001 Gov. (Rick) Perry had his chance, but he decided not to, and now it is too late.”

McAllen Mayor Leo Montalvo told the committee he did not testify as a Democrat or Republican.

“We have over 652,000 people here—the so-called magic number needed to have our own congressman,” Montalvo said. “If you must redistrict I urge you to keep Hidalgo County whole and add another district. We not only expect it, we deserve it.”

State Rep. Miguel Wise, D- Weslaco, said redistricting was nothing more that a corrupt, taxpayer-funded power play.

“The people keep saying they don’t want redistricting, and yet we continue to have public hearings, as if what we’re saying is being ignored,” Wise said. “We want to make sure the public testimony is not just a pacifier.”

Wise said he believed Rio Grande Valley senators would vote against the matter and that Perry’s offer of considering funding for the Regional Academic Health Center was nothing more than an offer to give in to redistricting.

“I don’t think our senators will take those 30 pieces of silver,” Wise said. “They will not be called Judas.”

State Sen. Royce West, D-Dallas, was the most outspoken member of the committee. He responded to public comments, asked questions and asked for copies of presentations to include in the testimony.

“First let me say I am not for redistricting,” West said. “I am part of this committee and I respect the other members and I respect the committee process. We are here to listen to you. It’s important that you understand that America is watching because this is important to the rest of the country and what the leaders in Washington, D.C. want.”

West’s comments were met with applause.

During the first hour of testimony six witnesses said they were against congressional redistricting.

Just how much the public comments will influence the committee members is unknown, because other committee members did not appear as interested. State senators Todd Staples, R-Palestine, and Chris Harris, R-Arlington, looked at candy in a dish on the table where committee members sat, while State Rep. Aaron Peña, D- Edinburg, testified.

“We need to create districts where voters have a choice,” Peña said, while the two senators talked and compared candy choices in the dish. “Moving to safe districts is not providing a choice, it’s pulling up apart.”

During introductions, Staples told the audience the committee process worked for all Texans, but his mind is probably made up on the matter.

On Monday, Staples issued a written statement obtained by The Monitor that said Texans should demand the Legislature fulfill its constitutional responsibility and that it should draw the district lines, not the courts.

In Austin on Tuesday, work continued with the State House Committee on Redistricting to produce a map by Thursday and bring the controversial issue up for debate in the House.

State Rep. Ismael “Kino” Flores, D-Mission, Hidalgo County’s only representation on the redistricting committee, said members were supposed to meet at 2 p.m. on Tuesday.

“At 2:30 p.m. we were told to stand at ease until 7 p.m. because the map we’re supposed to work with is not ready,” Flores said Tuesday afternoon. “About 200 people booed because they had driven long distances to testify before the committee and now have to wait about five hours to do that.”

As of 8 p.m., Flores said the public hearing had not begun in Austin because of protestors.

Flores said the committee is working on two maps. One of these has Hidalgo County at 77 percent with U.S. Rep. Ciro Rodriguez, D-San Antonio, still representing the western part of the county. The other map has the county at 92 percent intact.

“Of course, it changes like the hour hand changes,” Flores said.

Posted by Byron LaMasters at July 2, 2003 12:02 PM | TrackBack