Comments by Elaine Harvey

Commission District: 1

I do think that redrawing Sedgwick County Commission districts should not be rushed and think that more time should be taken this year. Communities of interest should be kept together rather than divided up to dilute their representation. Riverside should not be broken up into two commission districts for instance. We should aim for districts that are as geographically compact as possible so people can be clear on which district they live in at election time and as the need to contact a commissioner comes up. Given that we have a lot of people who do not identify with either party we should be very cautious in using information we have on party affiliation but we should not draw districts to prevent voters of minority parties from having influence at the polls. We definitely do not want to artificially protect a current office holder or separate a current office holder from the community they have represented.