While there was more substantive public discussion of the maps, the commission still failed to act “in the public eye” at every stage of the process, to hold public hearings or to engage in a fully public debate without the back-room map-drawing that tainted the first attempt.
State officials have one more chance to do things right -- with full public hearings and full public discussion on a new congressional map -- after the Ohio Supreme Court on Jan. 14drawn by General Assembly Republicans and signed into law by Gov. Mike DeWine. The other benchmark is not just the appearance of public participation by Ohioans, but its reality. That means public hearings, held statewide, open to all comers, inviting full, active public participation -- hearings held either by a joint General Assembly committee or by the redistricting commission, as the case may be.
The seven-member Ohio Redistricting Commission is composed of three statewide elected officials, all Republicans -- Gov. DeWine, State Auditor Keith Faber and Secretary of State Frank LaRose -- and four legislators: House Speaker Bob Cupp, and Senate President Matt Huffman, both Republicans of Lima; and Democratic state Sen. Vernon Sykes, of Akron, and House Democratic Leader Allison Russo, of suburban Columbus.