West Chester Borough Democrats (Home)

By Jake Speicher, West Chester Patch, 1/17/12

West Chester Mayor Carolyn Comitta released a copy of the legal brief filed as part of a petition to the State Supreme Court via e-mail Tuesday. Mayor Comitta will testify before the Supreme Court on Monday Jan. 23.

Recently, the Pennsylvania Legislature approved a plan that would redraw the lines for the state’s legislative districts. According to this new plan the Borough of West Chester would be split between two districts.

Currently, West Chester borough resides in one district.

The brief, prepared by attorney Sam Stretton, argues that the new redistricting plan for West Chester violates the state constitution….

keep reading and download the legal submission at West Chester Patch

email from West Chester Mayor Carolyn Comitta, 1/16/12:

Dear Neighbors:

Attached you will find the Brief that has been filed in our challenge to the recent state house redistricting/splitting of the Borough of West Chester.

There are eleven parties in this legal petition including the Mayor, and Borough Council President, Holly Brown. The parties include residents from Democratic, Republican and Independent parties.

No tax dollars are being used to fund this appeal. Expenses are either being donated, or paid for by the Democratic Party.

The appeal will be heard before the State Supreme Court in Harrisburg on January 23rd. West Chester Attorney, Sam Stretton, is the attorney representing the parties and has donated his time to prepare this Brief. He is also representing the parties in the Borough of Phoenixville appeal of their redistricting.

I will be in attendance at the hearing in support of our petition, along with several others. The hearings are public and all are welcome to attend.

Borough Council voted unanimously to urge the State Reapportionement Commission to keep the Borough in one house district. Council and the Mayor and many others believe that the splitting of the Borough of West Chester into two state house legislative districts (instead of being totally in one, the 156th) is a violation of the state constitution, is an act of racial discrimination, and is generally not in the best interest of the residents of the Borough of West Chester, and the residents of the municipalities for whom West Chester serves as an urban service hub. Details can be found in the Brief attached here.

Please understand that the Borough will remain “the Borough” and will not be divided for local governance in any way. Borough Council will serve the people of West Chester as they always have and Borough government will remain the same. The split is solely between state legislative house districts – with the residents of the northern half of West Chester served by one state representative, and the residents living in the southern half of the Borough served by another house representative who represents primarily Delaware County (again, details in Brief).

If you have any questions please feel free to email me any time. We will keep you informed of the proceedings and the eventual outcome of our challenge.

Best regards,
Carolyn

Carolyn T. Comitta
Mayor of West Chester

download: West Chester Election Challenge to Reapportionment Plan (Supreme Court Brief)

Monday, January 2, 2012, 7pm – Borough Hall, 401 E. Gay St., West Chester. All welcome to the swearing-in of Cassandra Jones (reelected from ward 2), Jordan Norley (newly elected from ward 4), and Steve Shinn (newly elected from ward 6), all to Borough Council, and of Tony Polito to the Civil Service Commission.

Followed by, for those who wish, a reception with snacks hosted by Jordan Norley at Jazmine Thai Restaurant, 344 West Gay Street, West Chester. If you plan to come to the reception, please RSVP by evite if you received one, otherwise by email to jordannorley@gmail.com.

by Jake Speicher, West Chester Patch, 12/18/11

West Chester Mayor Carolyn Comitta spoke with members of the Pennsylvania redistricting committee the day before Thanksgiving to ask the committee to reconsider splitting West Chester into two legislative districts.

Currently, the whole borough resides in legislative district 156. The new plan would split the borough between 156 and 160, and it would even split West Chester University where some dorm buildings would be in 156 and others would be in 160.

The new district line would also put half of the borough into the same district that mostly represents Delaware County even though West Chester shares no borders with communities in Delaware County.

View video at West Chester Patch

by Eric S. Smith, Daily Local News, 12/14/11

The north side of Union Street in West Chester, left, will now be part of the 156th District in the state House, while the south side will be part of the 160th District. Redistricting has split the borough into two districts. Staff photo by Tom Hope

The Pennsylvania state House and Senate seats for the next election cycle were finalized on Monday and despite opposition from local officials West Chester remains split between two representatives.

The 1st, 2nd, 6th and 7th wards will be a part of the 156th District, which previously encompassed the entire borough and is currently represented by Republican Dan Truitt. The 3rd, 4th and 5th wards will now be part of the 160th District, a seat held by Republican Stephen Barrar. The legislative districts are final pending any legal challenges that can be filed in the courts.

West Chester Mayor Carolyn Comitta and representatives from East Bradford and West Chester University testified before the legislative redistricting committee in Harrisburg in November, urging members to keep the borough and East Bradford as whole municipalities within a single district. East Bradford has also been split between the 156th and 160th.

Most of West Chester University will be part of the 160th, which is predominantly in Delaware County.

“It would be an anomaly for half of the borough, the seat of Chester County, to be moved to a Delaware County district,” Comitta said at the redistricting hearings last month. “It is certainly not a good idea to split a county seat, especially one that is an urban center providing a myriad of essential services for the region.”…

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