David B. Pleat, Senior Partner [1], was recently invited by State Senate President-Elect, Don Gaetz, to provide testimony before the Senate Committee on Reapportionment.  The Committee is charged with establishing new districts for House, Senate and Congress based on recent Constitutional Amendments 5 and 6.  Mr. Pleat was able to share his experiences as the Democratic Candidate for House of Representatives (District 7) and the challenges covering a District covering parts of nine counties and two time zones.  Mr. Pleat urged the Committee to establish common sense Districts which concentrate on natural geographic boundaries to simplify Districts.  His comments specifically urged that the panhandle coastal communities make up Districts and the Northern parts of the panhandle Counties have their own Districts.

View the meeting here [2] (David Pleat's comments may be found at the 1 hour 38 minute mark on the video)

Visit Senate Redistricting [3] for current information about the District Builder web application, plans submitted by citizens, Senators, and Representatives, and other initiatives to make this the most open, transparent and interactive redistricting process ever. Based on the 2010 Census and public testimony, the Senate Reapportionment Committee will prepare new congressional, Florida Senate, and Florida House districts in accordance with the process in  Fla. Const. art. III, §§ 7 & 16 [4], the standards in  Fla. Const. art. III, §§ 20 & 21 [5], and other federal and state laws. The Committee will also follow the Schedule and Procedures [6]as outlined by Chairman Gaetz.