| Letter to the editor | FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
| State Rep. Greg Vitali
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Misguided Reapportionment Plan
Editor:
I read with interest Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi’s (R., Delaware) contemplation of a U.S. Senate run (“Pileggi may challenge Casey,” Wednesday). Government needs elected officials who respect the Constitution and put the public interest above political interests.
Pileggi is on the five-person reapportionment commission charged with redrawing state House and Senate district lines. Unfortunately, the preliminary plan he helped approve is neither in the best interest of the public nor in conformance with the Pennsylvania Constitution. The plan’s transfer of the First and Ninth Wards of Haverford Township from the 166th to the 163d Legislative District is a perfect example.
This transfer, done solely to make the 163d a more secure Republican district, disregards the interests of the citizens of Haverford Township, a municipality contained entirely in the 166th District for decades. This transfer also violates the state constitution, which prohibits the division of a municipality unless “absolutely necessary.”
The final reapportionment plan, which the commission must approve by Dec. 30, provides Pileggi the perfect opportunity to demonstrate his willingness to put community interests above political interests and also his willingness to follow the constitution.
Pennsylvanians have the right to judge Pileggi’s fitness for the U.S. Senate by the quality of the reapportionment plan he endorses.
State Rep. Greg Vitali (D., Delaware), Haverford
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