12271: Commission district request denied (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: leonie hermantin <lhermantin@hotmail.com>

Posted on Wed, Jun. 05, 2002

Commission district request denied
BY KARL ROSS
kross@herald.com

Miami-Dade commissioners on Tuesday denied a request by Haitian-American
leaders to create at least one new commission district by 2004 -- something
they say would give candidates from their community a chance at getting
elected.

''You work hard, you play by the rules, you should get a chance to
participate,'' said State Rep. Phillip Brutus, D-Miami, the first
Haitian-American member of the Florida Legislature. ``I think it is patently
wrong to keep such a large community on the outside looking in.''

Haitian-American activists have been lobbying commissioners for a new
district since last year, but with little success. They say Haitian
immigrants and their descendants account for 300,000 of the county's 2.3
million inhabitants and are under-represented in elected office.

''I think some commissioners felt threatened about opening up the districts
and have couched their opposition using other arguments,'' Brutus said.

On Tuesday, commissioners rejected their latest attempt, voting 8-4 against
a proposed charter amendment to increase to 14 the number of County
Commission districts. The proposal was sponsored by Barbara Carey-Shuler,
who heads the commission's charter review task force.

Some commissioners opposing the measure said adding a 14th district was no
guarantee a Haitian-American would be elected to their ranks. Others said
they didn't have enough information to decide.

''Just adding a number doesn't mean that you're going to promote
diversity,'' Commissioner Betty Ferguson said. ``If you really want to
promote diversity, then take it to 27 or 29, then I'd really know we'd have
more diversity. Not by adding one more or two more, that's gambling.



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