This map does not reflects Midlands values for ESG. We have a future to the North and West and we have a legacy with Bay City and Saginaw, but none with Flint. Our focus for ESG cannot be diluted by Flint.

Gratiot and Isabella Counties share an RESD. Please do not split them across 2 different Congressional Districts.

I am concerned with breaking Oakland County into so many districts particularly for the federal congressional districts and to a lesser extent, the state Senate districts. Oakland County is a cohesive entity particularly along the I-75 corridor and the M-59 corridor. I understand that the increasing population of Oakland County makes it impossible to keep the entire county within one federal congressional district, but regional and shared resources such as fire, police, and park services that receive both state and federal funding are best served by keeping communities that share those resources in the same congressional district or at least just a couple adjoining congressional districts. Although it may appear to make sense to separate Troy from Rochester and Rochester Hills, they share more in common than Rochester/Rochester Hills and Sterling Heights. It also makes sense to keep Orion Township, Oxford Township, Brandon Township, and Independence Township together as they share school districts and some facilities, however, those same facilities are shared by Oakland Township, which would be in a separate state Senate district. Orion Township and Oakland Township also share some facilities with Rochester/Rochester Hills, yet they are proposed to be placed in separate federal Congressional districts. For example, Auburn Hills is an economic powerhouse with little housing of its own. The employees who work in Auburn Hills live in Troy, Rochester/Rochester Hills, Oakland Township, Orion Township, Independence Township, Oxford Township, Pontiac, and Bloomfield, yet those communities are separated into several different Congressional and Senate districts. Only the residents of Troy would vote for any representation that would affect Auburn Hills where they own a business or work, and the rest of the employees and owners would be divided into different districts. I understand that population makes it impossible to keep all of those communities in one district, but it does seem to make sense to avoid breaking Oakland County up into so many different districts. I appreciate all of the effort MICRC has put into redistricting, however, I believe that it is important to consider how communities interact with each other. Eastern and all of northern Oakland County have done a lot of regional planning. The communities there are diverse yet have far more needs in common with each other than with communities in western Macomb County. Even more, the communities in Oakland County have far more needs in common than the much more rural areas to the east in Macomb and St. Clair counties and counties further to the north, yet federal Congressional District 10 would lump northern Oakland County with areas all the way to the Detroit River and with areas in the thumb which have nothing in common. Diversity within a district is great, but my concern is these areas have so little in common that it will be impossible for one Representative to represent everyone fairly. Oakland County is a cohesive economic entity which has engaged in regional planning for years, but the current map would chop Oakland County into several federal Congressional districts with little regard to communities that interact together. Please try to keep Oakland County in fewer districts and joined with other surrounding areas that are economically connected and which share services.

Arenac is part of the Great Lakes Bay Region of Arenac, Gladwin, Clare, Isabella, Midland, Bay, Saginaw, and Gratiot. We have very few civic, social, or economic ties with northern Michigan or the UP, even though we are on the edge of what many consider "up north". Our communities of interest lie to our south. We are extremely connected with Bay County and the congressional and state districts should reflect this as a community of interest. Thank you.

Grosse Ile does NOT belong in this map! We are a downriver community - we share police and EMS resources with Trenton, Wyandotte, Southgate etc. We share a river front with massive concerns about the cleanup of McLouth steel. PLEASE remove Grosse Ile from this district. The shape is wrong, the thinking is wrong.

Combining the rural areas of St. Charles and surrounding areas with Flint is completely wrong and is just an attempt to dilute the votes toward the Dems. Separate Flint out from these areas and combine the rural parts with the areas they have more in common with. Isn't that what your 'Communities of Interest' is all about?

I see comments from people from Midland saying we are similar to Saginaw and Flint. This can't be farther from the truth. We have no similarities with these two cities. Their big issues are poor schools and high crime rates. Midland has some of the best schools and a very low crime rate. People in Midland do not typically go shopping in Flint or Saginaw. This is just not accurate at all. We have much more in common with the rural counties of Gladwin, Isabella and Arenac counties especially because of the ongoing issues with the dams and flooding.

Do not like that Midland County is broken up and we are separated from our upstream watershed communites. Midland county needs to remain whole and with Gladwin county.

This map should not be considered at all. It splits Midland in half. Midland County should remain whole and aligned to Gladwin County in any version of this map. Anything less will result in a major setback to the flood recovery and management process.

If the commission insists on drawing districts apparently exclusively to include two urban areas (one can only see this as a partisan gerrymander) why maintain any pretense of geographical continuity? Cut out the rural 'bridge' and just make a district out of urban islands.

District 9 can be better drawn to unite the Detroit exurbs in northern and western Oakland County rather than combining them with the thumb. As someone from Independence Township, I do not have any mutual interests (economic, political, or otherwise) with communities in the thumb, but rather those in Oakland County like Rochester Hills, Novi, Wixom, West Bloomfield, and Pontiac. The population loss in District 10 can be offset by adding Utica, Clinton Township, etc. to 10 and Troy to 11. The new District 9 would unite the Oakland County exurban areas of metro Detroit and would be highly competitive on a partisan level, while still allowing a VRA district to unite Southfield and Detroit. An image of such a proposed district is attached.

District 9 can be better drawn to unite the Detroit exurbs in northern and western Oakland County rather than combining them with the thumb. As someone from Independence Township, I do not have any mutual interests (economic, political, or otherwise) with communities in the thumb, but rather those in Oakland County like Rochester Hills, Novi, Wixom, West Bloomfield, and Pontiac. The population loss in District 10 can be offset by adding Utica, Clinton Township, etc. to 10 and Troy to 11. The new District 9 would unite the Oakland County exurban areas of metro Detroit and would be highly competitive on a partisan level, while still allowing a VRA district to unite Southfield and Detroit. An image of such a proposed district is attached.

I do not like this map. I do not feel that my voice will be heard if you combine Kalamazoo & Battle Creek together.

Oakland Twp identifies more with rochester and lake orion areas rather than the thumb

This district 3 look like the gerrymandering of the "bad old days". This is not acceptable for Muskegon County. Our intact county is a "community of interest". We need to be all in one district and ideally joined with other lakeshore communities who have shared interests such as invasive species, shoreline erosion, water quality etc. Grand Rapids is a land-locked major metropolitan area, much bigger than us. Muskegon would get lost in the shuffle and ignored if a portion of our county is carved off to be "packed" with them.