District Elections - Final Thoughts

This week we looked at the 5 final maps and the extent to which

• · they maintained the “one person one vote” federal mandate” (Click Here)
• · they kept communities of interest intact (Click Here)
• · they were compact (Click Here)

THE RESULTS

Looking across the 3 measures for which we have reasonable certainty, it looks like Map #109 is the favorite. It adheres most closely to the “one person one vote” mandate, keeps the most communities of interest intact, and has the second best score with regard to compactness, just behind Map #110.

Map #110 is the second best map. It is #1 with regard to compactness, and #2 with regard to the “one person one vote” mandate and with keeping communities of interest together.

Maps#109 and #110 are so far superior on the 3 measures under study that none of the other maps are even close.

OTHER CRITERIA

The three criteria we looked at are not the only criteria that can be used. Other considerations include –

• Do the maps create districts in which there are not existing City Council members?
• In any given map, which existing City Council members will be forced to compete with each other in district based elections?
• Which maps create the districts with the highest concentration of various racial groupings?
• Which maps best accommodate to the real population changes since the 2010 census, on which these districts are based?

Personally I did not think these considerations were as important as the three considerations I studied, and thus I did not put in the time or energy to do the types of analyses I did for those issues. If those issues are important to you, you may wish to do an analysis to see how the maps compare.

TEMPORARY DISTRICTS

Regardless of which map the Council selects, the districts will only be temporary. We have a vote coming up in the future, and in addition, we have new numbers that will come from the 2020 census where we will have to start all over again to create district maps based on the new population figures. So regardless of how much you want or don't want any particular map, don't blow a gasket because whatever we do now will have to be re-done, at least once and maybe twice.

CREATE A MODEL

Because we will be faced with creating districts again, it's important that we go through a process that can be evaluated and hopefully duplicated. The comparisons I made were based on what I understood to be the critical dimensions capable of being evaluated. There were no hidden agendas, and the data are straight-forward. Nor was there any consideration of gerry-mandering, whether to favor Council members or members of religious or racial groups. Hopefully this kind of data based decision making holds up.

NO PERFECT SOLUTION

Many of us think district elections are good because they will reduce the size of the electorate and thus reduce the costs of elections and thereby reduce the influence of special interests. We also believe that making representatives responsible for a limited area may produce better representatives. None of these advantages is guaranteed. The only thing that will insure good government is your involvement in the process.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Dr. Jim Gardner is on the City Council for Lake Forest. You can check him out on LinkedIn and/or Facebook and you can share your thoughts about the City at Lake Forest Town Square on Facebook. His comments are not meant to reflect official City Policy.

Dr. Gardner has office hours every Tuesday from 4 pm to 6 pm at the City Hall. In addition, he holds a mini town meeting every quarter. The next meeting will be on Dec 2 at 2 pm at the El Toro Public Library.