Idaho
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The Commission charged with setting Idaho's legislative and congressional district lines met in Boise Friday to hear public testimony. It was the last public hearing, as the six-member commission toured the state.

The most important message this commission wants to send to Idahoans is that they are going to work together as one and get a plan together sooner rather than later.

"This commission I think will be very different. We've decided the very first day that we were going to get along very well," said Commissioner Dolores Crow, co-chair of the Commission from Nampa.

That approach was easy to see for everyone who attended the public meeting Friday in the Capitol Auditorium; this commission wants to work together.

"We've been making the effort to work as a full commission,” said Commissioner Elmer Martinez, a Democrat from Pocatello. “It's not just the "D's" or the "R's", all six of us are working on the same goal.”

For an hour and 40 minutes elected officials and everyday citizens voiced their opinions on what many say is a very complicated process.

"We would like to have at least one district within our city that is whole, that is whole to our community," said Meridian Mayor Tammy de Weerd.

"When you do this process, you shouldn't be looking at where the current legislators live,” said Rep. Darrell Bolz from Caldwell. “You've got to look at it from a population standpoint.”

While everyone had their own opinion, there was still a theme to the testimonies, getting communities with similar interests together, and not base the lines on politics.

"We are doing this, what I call, a blind look at the map when it comes to politics,” said Crow. “It doesn't enter into our discussions whatsoever.”

"I cannot stress highly enough, how hard the people in this commission are working,” said Commissioner Ron Beitelspacher, co-chair of the Commission from Grangeville. We don't know where anybody lives, we don't pay any attention to where they live.”

Redistrict based on population and keeping counties together as much as possible are the main rules for this commission. With that, they hope to have a map drawn in 30 days rather than their allotted 90.

"So far, we've been going at a pretty good pace," said Crow.

"While we don't want to rush it, you want to be, we're making the effort to put the time in, and we've been working hard," said Martinez.

As for the work done by the previous commission, members of this commission say they are looking at everything they did. They also listened to or read all of the minutes from the previous meetings.

The old committee did not meet their 90 day deadline and they were dismissed. Since they could not agree on a plan, three new Democrats and three new Republicans were selected to redraw the maps.

The commission will look at everything, take what they believe to be the best of what was done and get a map together, so people who want to run for office will know what district they live in.

This has been a pretty busy week for the commission. On Wednesday they held a public meeting in Idaho Falls. Then last night they held another public meet in Coeur d'Alene. They will meet again Tuesday morning to discuss the input they received this week.

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