State Representatives Meet To Discuss Issues With Concerned Citizens

The Woman Democrats Flagstaff Chapter held a roundtable discussion where concerned citizens could ask three Arizona State Legislature Representatives questions and express their concerns about their topics of choice.

The Representative present were James “Jim” Sedillo of District Two and Sylvia Laughter and Albert Tom of District Three.

On the issue of redistricting due to the results of the 2000 Census, the Representatives said that citizens should become involved in the Redistricting Council that was created by the state’s voters.

Laughter said rural areas should not worry about not having representation.

Tom said because the rezoning committee hired a company out of California to do the actual redistricting it reminded him of the past when in the 1800s the War Department created an Indian Desk that drew the reservation lines from their offices in Atlanta, Georgia. “What does [a California company] know about Arizona?” he asked.

He said in the long run Northern Arizona will probably be drawn a district the citizens will not like.

The Redistricting Commission will be meeting in Holbrook on June 27, at the Holbrook-Northland Pioneer College Campus in the Community Education Center at 7.

When asked “How is the public supposed to find out what is going on when we only hear about the bills after they’ve been voted on,” Representatives informed the citizens of different ways of gathering information.

Sedillo pointed out that his office receives more than 100 e-mails per day about the different legislation.

Laughter said that because only 99 percent of the people in her district did not have Internet access, she uses her access to radio and newspapers to inform listeners and readers when bills are going to be looked at.

Tom said the way his office operates is if a citizen has an issue they want information on, they are welcomed to write or phone his office and they will get it for you. “I have administrative assistants that are quite willing to help you,” he said.

When posed with the question if there was a program in the legislature to conserve fossil fuels or to promote the use of alternative methods of energy, the representatives said that currently there was no bill but committees were working towards developing one.

“There a lot of concerns that have been expressed and need to be looked at,” Sedillo said.

Laughter said that she understood this was not just a concern of the state, but the nation as well. She added the state had an energy committee that looked at the California blackouts so that Arizona could be prepared if that situation occurred here. She said the committee found that there was nothing that could be done at the current time to make sure the energy shortage and blackouts that California experienced recently doesn’t happen. “We are trying to keep abreast of that issue and what other states are doing to address this problem,” she said.

Another issue brought up for discussion was that during regular voting, the ballot was very long and took a while for voters to read thoroughly. A concerned citizen asked if there was any way to shorten the ballot and make it easier to vote.

Laughter said that if the ballot was simplified citizens would think they were not seeing the whole language of the bill, so the legislature decided to leave the wording in its original language so that people know exactly what they are voting on.

Sedillo said that the state was working on getting better voting machines in the rural areas.