Updates to www.floridaredistricting.org coming soon!

Over the next week or so we will be implementing some changes to www.floridaredistricting.org.  With the launch of our Blog & Resources page, www.floridaredistricting.org is taking on a more simplified role as a front page for an entire universe of information about Florida redistricting.

So what purposes will www.floridaredistricting.org serve in the near future?

• As we’re about to begin public input meetings on redistricting throughout Florida, www.floridaredistricting.org will provide updates and access to scheduling information.
• The site will remain the best access point to MyDistrictBuilder.
• The site will provide public outreach, participation and educational materials.
• The site will provide introductions to the legal and legislative sides of redistricting.
• The site will offer insight into MyDistrictBuilder, including user help and support.

Beyond the content at www.floridaredistricting.org, the site will continue to serve as a gateway to an expanding universe of information, including social media, this blog and resources, legislative archives, and eventually access to the plans and suggestions submitted by Floridians.

For example, as a visitor to our Plan Explorer page, you will be able to search and review redistricting plans and ideas submitted by other Floridians – blog, share, and use as a foundation for your own input.  You will be able to take the redistricting plans and load them into MyDistrictBuilder, so that you can edit them, and resubmit them with your own twist on someone else’s idea.

Crowdsourcing – Florida redistricting style!

In the meantime, many of our resource links have moved here – to the Blog & Resources page.  The resources on the right side of the page are geared towards what you might want for drawing or analyzing redistricting plans.  The resources in the middle are focused on news and big picture items – why, what, how, etc.

As our pages evolve, if you lose track of a favorite link or a resource, just email us at mydistrictbuilder@myfloridahouse.gov.  And as always, feel free to let us know if you have any other questions or comments.

Happy Almost Friday!

Filed under: MyDistrictBuilder, On the Web, Public Meetings, Public Participation, crowdsource, crowdsourcing, florida, floridaredistricting.org, legislative, mydistrictbuilder, open government, public, public participation, redistricting, share, social media, tutorial

Outreach For Public Participation

Late 2010, staff of the House Redistricting Committee began contacting numerous organizations about MyDistrictBuilder and other opportunities to participate in Florida’s 2011-2012 redistricting process. 

Organizations contacted included:

• Florida’s 67 county supervisors of election
• Florida’s 67 county commissions
• Dozens of municipal commissions and councils
• Colleges & universities
• Civic organizations
• Civil rights organizations
• and many others

If you would like the House Redistricting Committee to help get your group – or an organization that you know of – involved in the redistricting process, email the Committee’s staff at mydistrictbuilder@myfloridahouse.gov or call (850) 488-3928.  Even if you just need assistance in how to get information about public meetings, MyDistrictBuilder and other resources to your organization, the team is happy to help!

The document below lists the groups contacted thus far.  Currently, staff are reaching out to these organizations a second time about the public meeting calendar.  Now is a great time to add new names to this list, so that your organization has the latest details on this summer’s public meetings.

Filed under: MyDistrictBuilder, Public Meetings, Public Participation, 2011, 2012, civic, civil right, college, commission, committee, council, election, engagement, florida, house, mydistrictbuilder, open government, public participation, redistricting, supervisor, transparency, universities

Redistricting Public Meetings Announced

Friday, May 6, 2011 – The House Redistricting Committee and Senate Committee on Reapportionment held a joint committee meeting on the House Chamber Floor.  The meeting served as an announcement of the scheduled dates for public meetings on redistricting – to be held this summer – throughout Florida.  Click here for video highlights.

The public meetings will serve as one of the primary tools for Florida’s diverse communities to present their suggestions for Florida’s new state legislative and congressional district boundary lines. 

Today’s announcement highlighted meetings from June 20-22 in Tallahassee, Milton, Fort Walton, and Panama City – and – meetings from July 11-13 in Jacksonville, St. Augustine, Daytona Beach, The Villages and Gainesville.  Additionally, meetings will soon be announced for Central Florida (July 25-28), Southeast Florida (tentatively August 15-18) and Southwest Florida (tentatively August 29-September 1).  Click here to watch the full meeting.

As meeting information is updated, www.floridaredistricting.org will always contain the latest and greatest calendar news.

Filed under: Public Meetings, Public Participation, 2011, cannon, census, committee, committee meetings, district, florida, florida channel, house, legislative, mydistrictbuilder, open government, public participation, redistricting, senate, subcommittee, transparency

Redistricting Committee Updates

The Redistricting Committee met today to drill down further into Florida’s redistricting process.  The Committee first heard remarks regarding:

• The jurisdiction of the Committee and the subcommittees, and the responsibilities of Committee members;
• Opportunities for public input and participation in the redistricting process; and
• House rules and procedures for redistricting.

Additionally, the Committee heard testimony from the House’s special counsel for reapportionment, regarding Florida’s state constitutional provisions on redistricting.  Specifically, counsel helped the Committee members examine the recently approved Amendments 5 and 6 (Article III, Sections 21 and 20 of the Florida Constitution).

The Committee also got a tour of the beta version of the MyDistrictBuilder application.  Throughout the week, each of the redistricting subcommittees will also hear the same presentations in their respective meetings.

Filed under: Data & Code, MyDistrictBuilder, On the Web, Public Meetings, Public Participation, 2011, 2012, amendment, census, committee, committee meetings, constitution, data grid, deviation, district, doj, florida channel, house, mydistrictbuilder, open government, procedures, public participation, redistricting, subcommittee

Video Update: www.floridaredistricting.org’s Page 2 and Page 3

Take a tour of the changes to www.floridaredistricting.org, including its Page 2 and Page 3.

Filed under: On the Web, census, committee, committee meetings, de grandy, florida, florida channel, house, mydistrictbuilder, open government, page 2, page 3, public participation, redistricting, subcommittee, weatherford

FloridaRedistricting.Org: From Home Page to Front Page

With committee meetings underway, and public submissions of redistricting plans and public meetings throughout the State about to begin in the next couple months – www.floridaredistricting.org, the home page of our outreach, is going from home page to front page over the next few weeks.

The main portal to MyDistrictBuilder, current events, meeting information and public participation resources will still be www.floridaredistricting.org. 

But this operation is about to become very information heavy, from public meeting records to redistricting plan submissions to lots of data and resources.  Therefore, our WordPress pages will capture the full extent of that content.

Filed under: Data & Code, MyDistrictBuilder, On the Web, Public Meetings, Public Participation, 2011, committee meetings, data grid, district, florida, mydistrictbuilder, open government, public participation, redistricting, resources, transparency

Florida Channel Launches Redistricting Site

The Florida Channel recently added another resource for the public to follow the redistricting process at http://thefloridachannel.org/featured-stories/redistricting/.

The site will archive redistricting committee meetings and those meetings the Legislature will host throughout Florida this summer through fall.  Whether you miss a meeting or maybe you want to use public testimony to help create a redistricting plan with MyDistrictBuilder, the Florida Channel is expected to have the information available through 2012.

Filed under: Public Meetings, 2012, committee, committee meetings, florida, florida channel, house, mydistrictbuilder, open government, public participation, redistricting, transparency

Video Update: Chairman Weatherford’s Opening Remarks

Filed under: Public Meetings, cannon, committee, constitution, district, florida, legislature, mydistrictbuilder, open government, public participation, redistricting, subcommittee, transparency, weatherford