In Plymouth, every ten years, following the federal census, election district boundaries must be redrawn. To that end, former Town Clerk Laurence Pizer and current Clerk Pearl Sears worked with a group, made up chiefly of town employees. This is to redraw the town’s precincts based on population changes.
Bobbi Clark has more:
Redistricting was on the agenda at the Select Board meeting last Tuesday, the 14th, when Pizer and Sears made a presentation of maps which showed an increase in precincts from 15 to 17.
Selectman Harry Helm:
“My concerns are borne from what happened at Tuesday’s meeting. We only received the maps in the presentation, and what I saw going on down in South Plymouth with Precinct 17—and the neighborhoods around Ezekial Pond and Big Sandy Pond—going from basically voting at South Elementary to a day trip to South Middle School. So, I have concerns about the process.”
Helm says hopefully, there have been…
“…enough residents who have noted problems with this, and residents without problems, who noted problems with a process that is not particularly transparent right now. A transparent process creates validity.”
In a related development, the Committee of Precinct Chairs met last Thursday and voted to request the Select Board expand the current working group to include three residents –two of whom should be town meeting members.
The Select Board meets Tuesday night at 6, redistricting of voting precincts is on the agenda.
