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When it was announced the Ohio Redistricting Commission, which is drawing new state legislative lines and possibly Ohio's congressional seats, was traveling around the state for 10 public hearings, I had a question for each of its seven members: "Are you going to show up?"
I asked a spokesperson for all seven, but heard from only three.
The spokeswomen for Auditor Keith Faber, a Republican, and state Sen. Vernon Sykes, D-Akron and co-chairman of the commission, told me they'd both be in Youngstown and at as many hearings as possible. Secretary of State Frank LaRose's spokesman was unsure at the time.
So it came as no surprise that the only two commission members in attendance at Monday's hearing at Youngstown State University were Sykes and Faber. The other five sent designees showing they don't care to hear from the public about redistricting despite huge changes to the process as a result of charter amendments strongly supported by voters. It's a pattern. There hasn't been a single hearing with more than three commission members.
Ohio House Speaker Bob Cupp's stand-in in Youngstown was state Rep. Tim Ginter, R-Salem, and House Minority Leader Emilia Sykes' designee was state Rep. Michele Lepore-Hagan, D-Youngstown -- ridiculous because Ginter and Lepore-Hagan already know what people in the Mahoning Valley think about redistricting.
It's disturbing that Cupp, R-Lima; Senate President Matt Huffman, R-Lima; and Emilia Sykes appointed themselves to the commission. Senate Minority Leader Kenny Yuko, D-Richmond Heights, appointed Vernon Sykes.
If you don't want to commit to the entire process -- Cupp and Vernon Sykes as co-chairmen announced the 10 hearings -- don't appoint yourself to the commission.
It looks like Vernon Sykes, whose been a consistent presence at the hearings statewide, and Faber, whose been at most, are the only two interested in hearing what people have to say about redistricting.
State Rep. Michael J. O'Brien, D-Warren, who was at the Youngstown hearing, looked at the panel and told me: "This is the most important thing in a decade, and they can't show up in the Mahoning Valley."
Instead of being in Youngstown and Cleveland, Gov. Mike DeWine, a Republican, chose to watch a Cincinnati Bengals practice and sent Matt Donahue, his chief legal counsel, to the hearings as well as others. Since then, DeWine has been in cities where hearings were held.
Dan Tierney, DeWine's spokesman, said: "The regional meetings are usually staff-led listening tours. The governor sent one of his top deputies. He intends to review the materials. Historically, governors haven't attended these meetings."
I don't expect DeWine at every hearing, but he chose to watch a football practice rather than listen to his constituents?
To quote Allen Iverson: "We talking about practice. Not a game. Not a game. Not a game. We talking about practice."
The optics are poor.
The commission must have a proposed map by Wednesday and has until Sept. 15 to pass a map that would be good for 10 years. It's obvious maps have been created but not shared with the public.
At least the new laws make it more difficult to gerrymander districts, a long-standing practice.
There could be bigger changes in Trumbull County as the latest census showed its population is 201,977, down from 210,312 a decade ago.
Under the new redistricting rules, each district has to have about 119,000 people, plus or minus 5 percent.
Math shows that Trumbull doesn't have enough people for two districts. Currently, the Warren-centric district includes six southern communities in Ashtabula County.
The two districts are going to have to grow even more because of Trumbull's population loss.
One possibility is to combine a portion of Trumbull with all of Ashtabula County into one district meaning Ashtabula would be the largest portion of that district. That would greatly dilute Trumbull's influence in Columbus.
Trumbull could instead get a piece of Portage County.
There's also legitimate concerns about completely separating Mahoning and Trumbull from each other in a newly-drawn congressional district.
Skolnick covers politics for The Vindicator.
dskolnick@vindy.com