a1726: Haitians seeking districts (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: leonie hermantin <lhermantin@hotmail.com>

Posted on Wed, Apr. 17, 2002

Haitians seeking districts
BY MICHAEL VASQUEZ
mrvasquez@herald.com

Haitian-American activists who want increased clout at County Hall on
Tuesday pressed Miami-Dade commissioners to move quickly to enlarge the size
of the commission -- but they didn't immediately get the response they
wanted.

Members of the Haitian-American Grassroots Coalition Task Force on
Redistricting, joined by local representatives of the American Civil
Liberties Union, wore stickers that bore the year ''2004.'' Above the year,
in large letters, the stickers read: ``Fair representation now!''

Marleine Bastien, executive director of the social service organization
Haitian Women of Miami, said Miami-Dade's Haitian-American community has
been marginalized long enough.

''I urge you to do the right thing, increase the numbers,'' Bastien told
commissioners considering changes to the county charter at a Ways and Means
Committee meeting.

The plan advocated by Haitian activists would create two additional county
commission districts: one in Northeast Miami-Dade -- which activists say
would provide the best chance for a Haitian-American candidate to be elected
-- and another in the southwest region.

The commission is considering placing a charter referendum on the ballot
this fall that would ask voters to approve increasing the commission from
its current 13 members to 15. But the current wording calls for the changes
to be implemented in 2012, after the next U.S. Census in 2010.

Commissioner Barbara Carey-Shuler called for a moved-up 2004 effective date
-- which activists applauded -- but only one new commission seat, which
activists complained was not enough.

Carey-Shuler's plan leaves out the proposed southwest Miami-Dade district,
which would likely elect a Hispanic commissioner.

She said the point of adding commission districts was to expand
representation opportunities for Haitian Americans -- not Hispanics, who
already hold a majority on the board.

Commissioner Natacha Seijas also wondered about the necessity of a 15th
district.

By the end of the meeting, the issue remained unresolved. Carey-Shuler
offered to meet privately with the activists in an effort to find a
solution.



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