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Committee Misses Court Deadline, New Districts Remain Uncertain meet this deadline, so the court gave the members until Wednesday to explain why they should not be held in contempt of the court. On Tuesday, all seven members The Ohio Redistricting Commission failed to meet a of the commission will appear in court to defend their deadline last week to produce fair legislative maps as choice to miss the deadline. “The court ordered them to submit a map and they ordered by the Ohio Supreme Court. With the Ohio primary elections scheduled for May 3, uncertainty blatantly disregarded the court’s order,” said Oberlin regarding congressional districts has created City Council Member Bryan Burgess. “And what does that mean? Will the Supreme Court order the challenges for candidates and voters alike. The Ohio Redistricting Commission was created members of the commission to be jailed? Fined? Who as the result of a 2015 Ohio state constitutional would impose those punishments? What happens amendment to address gerrymandering. The when the executive and legislative branches refuse an amendment was passed in a vote that garnered nearly order from the Supreme Court? We’re in uncharted 75 percent of popular support for the creation of the territory. No one knows what’s gonna happen.” It is unlikely that any one of the seven members of commission. “I was very optimistic when the constitutional the commission, which includes Ohio Governor Mike amendment was passed,” said Head of the Science DeWine, will be jailed, but the maximum penalty for a Library and member of the League of Women Voters first offense of contempt of court is a $250 fine and up Alison Ricker. “People were so, so excited and thought, to 30 days in jail. The extended back-and-forth between the Ohio ‘This will do it! The bipartisan commission will be wonderful and will work together.’ And they just Supreme Court and the Commision has created didn’t. ... We worked so hard to get signatures and get challenges for the upcoming May 3 primary. On it on the ballot. And we were really talking about how Tuesday, Secretary of State Frank LaRose wrote to it was going to improve politics in Ohio and we really the Ohio Redistricting Commission to warn members that the May primary would not be able to go forward believed it would.” The road to producing fair congressional maps after without a completed map. LaRose himself is a member the 2020 census has been anything but smooth. After of the Ohio Redistricting Commision. The limbo state of the map makes it uncertain which the Ohio Redistricting Commission produced a set of maps in September, a number of lawsuits arguing that district will include Oberlin. In previous elections, the maps did not meet constitutional requirements to Oberlin was part of the Ohio 4th Congressional District, fairly represent the residents of Ohio were filed in the held by Jim Jordan; the 56th State Congressional District, held by Joe Miller; and Ohio Senate District Ohio Supreme Court. “I think what we’re seeing here is the growing pains 13, held by Nathan Manning. Maps that were passed this fall and later struck of some folks in politics who really don’t want to let go of partisan gerrymandering, and they’re trying to see if down by the Ohio Supreme Court changed some of they can still get away with it,” said Associate Professor the boundaries for Oberlin’s U.S. and state districts. of Geology and Oberlin College Votes member Zeb Oberlin was moved out of Democrat Joe Miller’s Page. “And that’s frustrating because I think that there district; in response local city council member Bryan are some groups that are really trying to get away with Burgess decided to run for Ohio House against Republican incumbent Dick Stein in the 53rd District. as much as they can.” “The second map that [the commission] submitted After numerous back-and-forths between the court and the commission, the court ruled that the showed Oberlin being out of the traditional district commission would need to produce constitutional that we’ve been in for decades,” Burgess said. “Oberlin maps by Feb. 17. Last week, the commission failed to has often been in the same district as other cities and Ella Moxley News Editor
central Lorain County and the new map that they drew pulled Oberlin out of that district and put it into Southern Lorain County and further west into Huron and Erie counties.” As the maps have yet to be finalized due to current litigation, the boundaries for the district Burgess is running in are not yet finalized. Nonetheless, the filing deadline to run was Feb. 2, so Burgess filed in the 53rd District even though future maps could put Oberlin in a different district. “Candidates across the state of Ohio filed to run in a district,” Burgess said. “Those districts are up in the air, they’re undefined. They may not even exist on the next map that gets approved. And so even though I’ve filed in the 53rd, Oberlin may not be in the 53rd District on the next approved map.” The chaos of the redistricting has also caused confusion for voters who are uncertain what the boundaries of their district are or what candidates they will be voting for this spring. Nonetheless, Page urges voters, especially students, to focus on things they can control while they wait, like getting registered to vote. “I think it’s less important to focus on the details of what the ultimate congressional districts will be, but to remember that participating is important,” Page said. “And although there’s not that much we can do right now about what congressional district or legislative district that we will be in Oberlin, we can make sure that we’re ready to participate.” Despite the uncertainty created for voters and candidates like Burgess, the month-long legal fight could result in more democratic maps that better represent the residents of Ohio. “I think [having a fair map] is a reasonable hope,” Ricker said. “I think that we’re not gonna be left with the really gerrymandered map that the Republicans came up with. I mean, some parts of the state will seem pretty gerrymandered possibly, but there’s some really glaring problems, especially down around Cincinnati that were really obvious gerrymanders.” The deadline to register to vote in the Ohio primary is April 4. Students interested in helping with voter registration can reach out to OC Votes at OCvotes@ oberlin.edu.
Allyn W. Gibson, 93, Passes
Anisa Curry Vietze Editor-in-Chief
Students and community members vote at the Heisman Club Field House in 2020. Photo by Mads Olsen
The Oberlin R eview Feb. 25, 2022 Volume 151, Number 12 (ISSN 297–256) Published by the students of Oberlin College every Friday during the fall and spring semesters, except holidays and examination periods. Advertising rates: $18 per column inch. Second-class postage paid at Oberlin, Ohio. Entered as second-class matter at the Oberlin, Ohio post office April 2, 1911. POSTMASTER SEND CHANGES TO: Wilder Box 90, Oberlin, Ohio 44074-1081. Office of Publication: Burton Basement, Oberlin, Ohio 44074. Phone: (440) 775-8123
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The owner of Gibson’s Bakery, Allyn W. Gibson, died on Saturday, Feb. 12 at the age of 93. Allyn’s passing was announced on the bakery’s Facebook page the following day. “With a heavy heart, we say goodbye to Allyn W. Gibson,” the Feb. 13 post read. “He passed yesterday during baker’s hours. … Mr. Gibson was one of the most kind and genuine individuals we have ever known. He will be greatly missed.” Allyn was a long-standing pillar of the Oberlin community, graduating from Oberlin High School, before attending The Ohio State University. Allyn married Melba Mason in 1948, and they remained happily married Anisa Curry Vietze Kushagra Kar Gigi Ewing Ella Moxley Kush Bulmer Lauren Krainess Emma Benardete Angel Aduwo Lilyanna D’Amato Kathleen Kelleher Zoe Kuzbari John Elrod Zoë Martin del Campo Walter Thomas-Patterson Khadijah Halliday Abe Frato Wiley Smith Adrienne Sato Nikki Keating
for 51 years, until her passing. In 2019, the Gibson family was awarded $44 million — later capped at $25 million under Ohio law — in the Gibson’s Bakery v. Oberlin College case against the College and former Vice President and Dean of Students Meredith Raimondo. Allyn was preceded in death by his parents, Burt and Leota (Goodrich) Gibson; wife, Melba; and son and bakery co-owner David Gibson, who died in 2019. He is survived by sons Rick and Don, nine grandchildren, and 16 great-grandchildren. Family and friends gathered to pay their respects to Allyn on Thursday, Feb. 17, at The First Church in Oberlin, and held a memorial service in his honor on Friday, Feb. 18, also at First Church.
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