Letters to the Editor

Oct. 10 letters to the editor

We need to talk about
redistricting ASAP
Once again, redistricting for West Virginia representation in the U.S. House of Representatives is expected after the 2020 Census. If the pundits are right, West Virginia will lose a representative leaving us with two rather than the three we have now.
In my lifetime, our representation in the House has declined from six to three, and quite possibly will be reduced to two sometime in 2021. Equal representation rests on the populations of districts; so, if we must, how shall we configure our districts for the next decade?
There are several approaches to the redistricting task, for example: 1) State legislatures control the process, 2) appointed commissions control the process, 3) nonpartisan staffs develop maps, which are then voted upon by state legislatures, 4) no redistricting required because the state has only one district.

To date the only redistricting map for West Virginia I’ve seen was published in WVU’s Daily Athenaeum last December. It separates West Virginia into northern and southern districts based on the estimated state population as of July 1, 2017 (1,815,857).
That total population was divided by two to determine an equal population in each district, and the “true” populations for each district were developed by summing the county populations in each district.
The map shows a northern district with 28 counties and a population of 904,993 and a southern district having 27 counties and a population of 910,864; probably as equitable as possible with a district boundary along county boundaries.

In November 2018, Hoppy Kercheval interviewed Kenneth Martis, professor emeritus of geography at WVU, about drawing new boundaries for congressional representation in West Virginia. A New Hampshire commission drafted a map its legislature fashioned into a compromise bill that its governor vetoed. North Carolina’s district system has been challenged in the courts. The U.S. Supreme Court has declared congressional district maps to be a voter- or legislator-led effort to establish rules for the process.

Congressional district boundaries are important at national, state and local levels. Redistricting for congressional representation is a significant part of our governance process.
The map I noted is a reasonable starting point for the reapportionment discussion. Are we having such a discussion?
Bill Wyant
Morgantown

Impeachment message:
Get in line or you’re next
The Democrats in 2016 graciously gave Americans the opportunity to do as we were told and vote for Hillary Clinton and we failed them, proving our illegitimacy as a citizenry.
Electing Donald Trump was the last straw for them. At one time they wanted only our money, but since we elected Trump, they’ve decided to come for everything else we enjoy as free citizens of the republic.
Using the media, their allies in scurrility, the left knows every specious allegation will be portrayed as fact in every article, on every news panel, and in every talking-head utterance. They believe that if you tell a lie many times over it will become the truth.
The left must make sure that someone like Trump never happens again. They are honing the art of cheating and weakening election integrity efforts while flooding the country with illegal aliens to negate our vote and guarantee eternal leftist primacy. They will completely eliminate home-schooling, private schools and magnet schools. When you start them young, they’re yours forever. In short, they will replace us with a more compliant citizenry
People think the Green New Deal is about saving the planet — it’s not; it’s about control; it’s about socialism and it’s about bankrupting we the people and their assuming total control. Once we are starving and begging for government help they will bring in U.N. troops to enforce their will.

Impeaching Trump is their way of telling us to get in line, or else. If you think of Trump, not as Trump, but as one of us, it becomes clear. Destroying him is a way of telling us, “You’re next.”
Jim Hinebaugh
Maysville