A special screening panel is set to begin seeking a replacement Monday for the ousted head of the Independent Redistricting Commission - assuming it is not blocked by a court order.
The 2000 initiative that took the process of drawing political lines away from lawmakers requires the Commission on Appellate Court Appointments to nominate replacements to fill vacancies within 30 days. The clock on that started running Wednesday, the day the commission staff was formally notified of the prior day's vote by the state Senate to ratify the decision by Gov. Jan Brewer to fire Colleen Mathis.
But what remains to be seen is whether the panel will simply review the list of people who applied last year, when the redistricting commission was first being put together, or ask for new applications.
The meeting notice comes as attorneys for Mathis and the redistricting commission are asking the Arizona Supreme Court to rule that her removal by the governor was illegal. By extension, they want to prevent anyone else from taking her place while the issue is litigated.
The court has yet to decide whether to even hear the case.
Brewer, who forced the issue, said Thursday she expects the redistricting commission, once revamped, to come up with maps for the nine congressional and 30 legislative districts that are vastly different than the drafts adopted by the panel.
Republicans have been particularly unhappy with the congressional maps, as it places two incumbents now who have "safe" districts into ones where the party registration figures make them politically competitive. Brewer, in her formal charges against Mathis, said drawing those lines to create competitive districts ignored requirements for compactness and keeping communities of interest together.
"It would appear to me that if those maps remain in the same configuration that they are currently in, that it certainly isn't being done in a fair, open manner," Brewer said.
Under the terms of the 2000 initiative, the appellate commission is required to come up with three nominees to replace Mathis, all of whom have to be, like her, unaffiliated with either major political party. Then the four remaining members, two chosen by Democratic leaders and two by Republican elected officials, select from that list.
In her telephone interview Thursday with Capitol Media Services, Brewer defended being in New York City to promote her new book, "Scorpions for Breakfast," not only when Mathis responded to the allegations but also while the Legislature met in special session to vote on the ouster.
"There was no need for me to come home," she said, saying there's plenty of technological ways for her to do her job.
"They were in contact with me constantly," the governor said of both her staff and Republican legislative leaders. "There was nothing I could have done there that I couldn't accomplish from here."
The legal fight over Mathis' removal has created a conflict for Supreme Court Chief Justice Rebecca Berch, who also chairs the screening panel that is set to start work Monday. So Berch has agreed not to participate in the legal arguments over the governor's action, with retired Justice Michael Ryan, a Republican like Berch, taking her place temporarily on the bench.
Cerulean posted at 5:49 pm on Thu, Nov 3, 2011.
It is time for a change in Arizona, and I do not mean Colleen Mathis. She did what she was commissioned to do, draw new maps. That is the whole point of the REDISTRICTING committee, that was her job!
I pray that Republican Justice Ryan rules fairly and promptly.
wdgnas posted at 6:36 am on Fri, Nov 4, 2011.
isn't having competition like having the free market system decide the winners and losers instead of the government doing it for us?
lauraaz posted at 7:54 am on Fri, Nov 4, 2011.
This whole affair stinks. The voters voted for a fair and impartial
redistricting commission. Once again the republicans cry and moan
over the results of a fair process and try to subvert the process.
I hope the courts slap the governor and her friends with a huge
suit over this. Its time to clean up the dirty republican politics
in this state. (well, except for Joe Arpio [beam] )
Diogenes Lantern posted at 5:33 pm on Fri, Nov 4, 2011.
Gov Brewer, please put Prop 106 (revised)and get it on the ballot soon (The Presidential Primary?). The procedure was set up to fail (or succeed by being skewed in favor of the uber Left).
Thank you Janet Napolitano! You fled AZ and left us in the worst financial state in USA with $1.2 Billion deficit in better times (Pearce and crew have finally Balanced the Budget and AZ is now in top 5). Napolitano also left us with this tainted bag of corruption!
How can a Commission find compromise when you have 2 die hard Republicans and 2 die hard Democrats with a so-called Independent as the deciding vote and Chair? At the bare minimum, we should have 2 preferably 4-5 Independents. And not chosen by Napolitano's handpicked Court. The other back-up Independents are also progressives. Thank you, Big Sis!
Mathis voted ALL the time with the progressives on key votes. Mathis and her husband donated to Obama's campaign as well as various democratic causes. Then Obama gives Mathis a job handing out Obama Stimulus Funds in Tucson even though Mathis background is not Funding or Fundraising -she is an engineer. Hum!
Then Mathis gets in trouble by Vote Trading, Bid Rigging, Destroying Ballots to get Obama's campaign advisor, Strategic Telemetry, chosen as the mapper (even though they have no experience, requires 3 contractors to do their work, and at double the cost of the AZ companies). Chicago Land kneecap politics.
The rest is history. AJ Horne investigated...the Guilty 3 refuse to answer the states' questions. We, the taxpayers are required to pay for 4 -yes four-lawyers to defend the Guilty 3 at $300 an hour. Just answer the darn questions!
And why do we the taxpayers have to pay for the 4 lawyers to CONTINUE working on defending Mathis since she is fired and off the Commission? We continue to pay the 4 lawyers at $300 an hour as they file papers to fight against the impeachment. Does not the commission lawyers work for the State and the taxpayers and the entire Commission not just defending an ex-commissioner?
The Guilty Three corrupted the whole process. Throw out all the commissioners and the seriously gerrymandered maps and start anew with at LEAST 4 Independents. And change the 106.