Redistricting -- Cid Kallen appointed by House Minority Leader

This afternoon, House Minority Leader Chad Campbell appointed Yuma attorney and US Marine Corps veteran Cid Kallen to the fill the vacant seat on the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission.

Kallen was founding president of the Hispanic Law Students Association at the Phoenix School of Law. He now serves on the board of directors for the Los Abogados Hispanic Bar Association.

There is still no word on a ruling in Harris v AIRC, a federal lawsuit challenging the legislative district map used for the 2012 election cycle in Arizona. When the Harris ruling is made, if it requires any changes to the map, Kallen will get his feet wet and will have a say in those changes.

Corporate media stories on this announcement reference former commissioner Jose Herrera,

Herrera cited a toxic atmosphere at meetings and lawsuits targeting the commission.

The fact that all of the original five commissioners appointed in 2011 lived in either Phoenix or Tucson  presented initial concerns. That controversy fell by the wayside when the firestorm surrounding selection of mapping consultant Strategic Telemetry erupted.

Among the most irritating aspects for Herrera was frequent bickering from and with Republican Scott Freeman. I suspect Kallen will not be quite as concerned if the bickering continues.