Jay Evensen
  • Front Page
  • Opinions
  • Second Thoughts
  • Portfolio
  • Awards
  • About

Proposition 4 isn't perfect, but it's a good step

10/30/2018

0 Comments

 
Picture
Two hundred and six years ago, guests at a political dinner party in Boston let their creative juices flow as they talked of how upset they were at a new state senate district map that was drawn by the Democratic-Republican majority and signed into law by Massachusetts Gov. Elbridge Gerry.

The way Smithsonian.com describes it, an illustrator at the party by the name of Elkanah Tisdale sketched a map of one district and attached claws and a head to it (making this an appropriate story for Halloween). Someone said it looked like a salamander. Someone else said no, call it a “Gerry-mander,” after the governor.
​
You can imagine the laughter and merriment.
Just like that, Gerry’s record as a founding father, independent thinker, governor and eventual vice president of the United States was forever lost to popular history.

Nothing works quite like a catchy name. Gerry became the father of blatant attempts to hold onto political power through redistricting.

And all these years later, “gerrymanders” are occupying the minds of Utah voters as they face ballots asking them to give a thumbs up or down on Proposition 4, which would establish a more or less independent commission to redraw political boundaries every 10 years.

Unfair? Gerry probably thought so; but politics and fairness seldom are on a first-name basis, even though they talk about each other all the time.

Proposition 4 aims to fix that. Realistically, that is an impossible task. Fairness is in the eye of the beholder, and unfairness has an endless array of stories to tell.

But Proposition 4 would at least curtail the inclination of the Legislature’s ruling party to draw districts based purely on political motives. For that reason, it deserves support.

Let’s be clear: It would not remove the Legislature entirely from the process, any more than it would completely separate that process from politics. Proposition 4 would establish a seven-member citizen commission, appointed by politicians, to draw maps every 10 years based on the new Census — something necessary because people keep moving, dying, procreating, marrying, divorcing, constructing and otherwise shifting around like the sands of the sea.

Ultimately, however, the Legislature would retain the right to throw away the work of the commission and do its own thing. But if it does so, it would have to provide a detailed written explanation as to why — something I would love to read.

And let’s be clear about something else: The commission’s decisions wouldn’t be easy, and they wouldn’t satisfy everyone’s notion of fairness.

Utah may well receive a fifth seat in the House after the 2020 Census. Given how the state’s population gravitates toward the Wasatch Front, you easily could create three complete districts out of Salt Lake County alone and one each in Utah and a combination of Davis and Weber counties. But that would leave the entire rest of the state without enough people to form even one district.

So something has to be carved up. Some community of interest needs to be marginalized. Drawing political boundaries is not easy, even with the purest motives.

And yet it would be good for the state to remove the process at least a step away from accusations its sole purpose is to save someone’s seat or to remove someone else from power. I’ve heard from more than one former Democratic legislator in recent days who claims to be a victim of this.

If you’re worried the commission would erode the Republican Party’s majority, forget about it. In 2011, the Legislature drew four new congressional districts that were 72 percent, 65 percent, 74 percent and 62 percent Republican. It may be physically impossible to draw a district that is one-fourth of the state and that also contains a majority of Democrats.

Maybe more Democrats would find their way into the Legislature, but you could add several of them and barely notice.

Supporters say this has nothing to do with political parties. It has to do with keeping communities together and giving them representation. The proposition would require the commission to minimize the way communities are divided and to preserve traditional neighborhoods.

That won’t necessarily translate into more competitive races, which would happen only if the commission was told to divide Republicans and Democrats as evenly as possible.

Finally, the proposition exhibits some of the flaws of making law through citizen initiatives. Some parts of it may be found unconstitutional, especially one that would prohibit a commission member from being a lobbyist, candidate or political appointee for four years after serving.
​
But despite all of that, Proposition 4 would take the task of drawing political districts one step away from Elbridge Gerry’s salamander, even if it wouldn’t guarantee an elusive notion of fairness. That’s worth a try.
0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    RSS Feed

    Search this site


    Like what you read here?

      Please subscribe below, and we'll let you know when there is a new opinion.

    Enter your email address:

    Delivered by FeedBurner

    Picture

    The author

    Jay Evensen is the Senior Editorial Columnist of the Deseret News. He has nearly 40 years experience as a reporter, editor and editorial writer in Oklahoma, New York City, Las Vegas and Salt Lake City. He also has been an adjunct journalism professor at Brigham Young and Weber State universities.

    Archives

    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012

    Categories

    All
    Campaign 2012
    Congress
    Crime
    Culture
    Iran
    Oil And Gas
    Poverty
    Steroids
    Taxes
    Utah
    Washington
    World Events
    World Events

    Links

    Deseret News
    Newslink
    Marianne Evensen's blog

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.