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. 
          
         ________________________ 
         Rep. Jones, Delwin, Chair 
          
         ________________________ 
         Glen Hunt, Clerk