There will be a series of two public input sessions on New Mexico redistricting, held by the non-partisan Citizen Redistricting Committee, in eight locations around the state. The most convenient location for Roosevelt County residents is in Roswell, with an electronic satellite location in Portales from 3-7 p.m., Wednesday, Aug. 11 at the Zia Room at the ENMU Campus Union Building.

There are several ways people can engage:

1) Show up at public meetings and share oral testimony about cultural, health, food systems, education, infrastructure/broadband, economic issues, land/water, and other community of interest issues during the first round of public meetings. The meetings begin this week. Here’s the link to the first round of 8 meetings. Meetings & Transparency – New Mexico Citizens Redistricting Committee (nmredistricting.org) There will be a second round in late September and early October. I’ll send a reminder then. On the Meetings and Transparency page, if people click on the “more information” button, it will also provide information about how to join by zoom.

The second round of meetings will be in late September through mid-October in 8 regions around the state. At those meetings, there will be conceptual maps that communities will be able to weigh in on as well. All of that input will be used by the Citizen Redistricting Committee members to inform the maps that are submitted to the legislature. This means that we design political districts in ways that people have the greatest likelihood of choices of people who understand their needs and interests.

2) Use the public input portal to submit a map or written testimony. The link to do that is here. Submit a Public Comment or Map – New Mexico Citizens Redistricting Committee (nmredistricting.org) This is the first time that communities have had access to this kind of FREE mapping technology during redistricting to help policy makers better understand and respect what we want and need in terms of representation.

3) Encourage others to lift their voices, wisdom, and knowledge too. Please feel free to share this e-mail, dates of the meetings which can be found in the first link and the mapping and written testimony portal which can be found in the second link. On-line materials for submitting testimony are in Spanish and English. Interpreters are being arranged for meetings. Please share on your social media too. Word of mouth matters.

4) Coordinator Lilly Irvin-Vitela can provide technical assistance about the meetings, website, and mapping software to small or large groups of people virtually to help folks get ready for meetings or other public input. I can also provide on-site support if people come to the meetings in person to help folks sign up and share maps in person and with folks joining by zoom. The best way to reach me is at lilly@communityconnectsconsulting.com.