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Preliminary signs emerging from the process of drawing boundaries for new Congressional districts in Utah show those in charge are favoring an approach that would carve up the state's urban core in a "pizza slice" configuration.
Such a course of action would not be in the best interests of Utah citizens, and would seem to be motivated by the desire to preserve and expand Republican Party dominance.
A prospective plan would divide Salt Lake County into four congressional districts -- combining each slice with areas of disparate interest throughout the state. There is no persuasive demographic, geographic or common-sense reason to do that.
The Utah Citizen's Council, a bipartisan group dedicated to a fair outcome in the redistricting process, has published four potential plans, each of which keep Salt Lake County largely intact. The committee -- an impressive coalition of respected community leaders -- has embraced the principle that districts should reflect commonality of interests.
But the chairman of the Legislature's committee, Rep. Ken Sumsion of American Fork, sees it differently. He says there is value in having an "urban-rural mix" in each of the four districts. Now, the question becomes, is there a rational argument for such a mix, or is it simply camouflage for the real intent -- to break up Democratic strongholds?
Rep. Sumsion has said, for example, he would like to redraw Congressman Rob Bishop's district to include eastern Utah's coal and gas lands -- areas that traditionally vote Democratic. Rep. Sumsion says it makes sense because, he asserts, Bishop is "probably our best congressman on land issues."
That statement alone is evidence of a mindset that clearly puts political interests above all else; districts that will exist for at least a decade should not be designed to accommodate a particular politician's skill set.
The citizen's council has advocated a so-called "doughnut" approach, which forms concentric rings around the capital city, arranging urban and suburban neighborhoods into common districts, and creating a geographically large rural district stretching from Box Elder to San Juan County. It is an unusual but elegant configuration that respects commonality of interests.
At the same time, the argument that each district ought to have a rural and urban mix is not without merit. Conceptually, it would require each of Utah's four Congressional representatives to be generalists, with responsibility for a variety of statewide interests.
However, the political reality is that if influential Salt Lake County has a stake in each district, it's more than possible that each district will end up being represented by someone from Salt Lake County. Residents in Utah's vast rural dominion clearly recognize that. In recent redistricting hearings in Cedar City, for example, several citizens and public officials voiced worries that a "pizza slice" plan would lead to the disenfranchisement of areas outside the urban center.
There are encouraging signs that the redistricting committee is paying attention to these concerns. Senate President Michael Waddoups, who says he favors the "pizza- slice," approach, has nevertheless agreed to be open to a "doughnut" plan of some nature, he says, after receiving citizen feedback.
The committee promised to consider such feedback when it began its work, and pledged to be fair, open and resist any urge to engage in gerrymandering.
KSL believes that pursuing a course which would divide Salt Lake County into multiple districts will represent a default on that pledge, and seriously damage the credibility of the redistricting process.
