Utah’s new base Senate redistricting map doesn’t pass muster. It unnecessarily divides cities, counties and communities for incumbency protection.
For example, the Senate created a “thumb” district extension of Tooele County into west Salt Lake valley to secure an incumbent residing in Salt Lake County. (See base Senate map.) This resulted in taking a swath of residential Tooele County and giving it to Box Elder County, which has no direct transportation link.
The Senate secured incumbents in Weber and Davis County, discussed as an important measure in Sept. 7th’s Legislative redistricting meeting. The committee rationed this as one reason why it had to take Stansbury Park from Tooele, or it would mess up boundaries for other northeastern incumbents.
Also egregious: when you count the total population for Utah County, it needs 5.5 Senators. It’s getting eight. The Senate has pulled in populations from four perimeter counties, including Salt Lake. Incumbent protection is involved once again.
The reality is: minimizing city and county divides means you can’t play politics, and redistricting, as it is, is all about serious politics.
Utah voters vote 60% Republican and 40% Democrat on average. 73% of our legislators are Republican. With the greatest off-balance in a two-party system in the nation, Utah Republicans control just about every string of Utah’s political puppet.
In redistricting, the Democrats ask for what they want, wait in the hallways for an outcome, and then find out with the rest of us what Republicans have decided.
Waiting with Utah’s Democrats for a redistricting outcome are: RepresentMeUtah!, other political activist groups, many rural and urban citizens, and municipal leaders; all that have requested to keep communities together. A $100K software program for public input and an around-the-state road trip now seem an awful waste.
Senator Stuart Reid said the legislators are the best and most knowledgeable people to draft the maps now. Senator Michael Waddoups told good government groups off the cuff at Sept. 12th’s meeting we’re not listening to you anymore. Did he ever listen in the first place?
Good government groups like the base map for the House. (Utah Base House Map.) Its areas are fairly compact and keep several communities together. Also, we have seen the House use comments and concerns from citizens from the road trip, such as putting Cedar City back together in one district after proposing a split down its main street; keeping representation of Rosepark in Salt Lake County and not diluting its votes into Davis County. This certainly doesn’t mean that incumbency was not considered in the House map. I am certain it was. But the House has at least thrown Democrats and citizens a bone and listened to some of our comments. There's some hope.
RepresentMeUtah! believes that political systems in every state should ignore incumbents when drawing new boundaries. As Utah citizens, RepresentMeUtah! members are not counting safe seats for Democrats and Republicans. We believe that if new boundaries preserve county, city and community borders as much as possible, given one-person-one-vote parameters, democracy is better served. Voter-reflective representation, which is well needed in Utah, is better achieved.
If an impartial redistricting process were to be performed, politics would need to fly out the window. Democracy would take its place.
Redistricting’s squash of democracy is not unique to Utah. Yet in all other states, two parties duke out new boundaries and come to a compromise. In supermajority Utah, Republican legislators have the final say.
September 22nd should be interesting as it is the final public meeting and we will be looking at maps of four new U.S. Congressional districts. Utah’s three congressmen are invited to attend and submit maps. That’s when high drama begins. Oh wait, it already has!
Doughnuts or pizza anyone?
No comments:
Post a Comment