‘Wasted my time.’ Franklin voting map committee frustrated with commissioners
Franklin County leaders got an earful about their preliminary choice for a new voting district map. Now they’re asking the public to keep it coming.
The Franklin County commissioners hosted a public hearing Tuesday night on their proposed new voting district map. Commissioners said this was the next step in the process of updating maps after the 2020 census, and stressed that their selection can still change.
While they were unable to truly agree on which map to go with, the redistricting process had a deadline they had to meet, forcing them to propose a map by Dec. 31.
District 3 Commissioner Clint Didier said that with the legal deadline out of the way, they can now refocus on finding a map that works best.
Back to the drawing board
“The process is ongoing, if the board feels more time is necessary, they can ... take more time,” Didier said.
The map they picked has boundaries very similar to the current district map. District 2 Commissioner Rocky Mullen put forth that map, and was seconded by District 1 Commissioner Brad Peck.
Peck said he agreed to that map a week ago in the name of compromise to ensure they met the deadline, after the board could not otherwise agree.
Peck prefers a map that more closely aligns with a proposal from the plaintiffs in a Voting Rights Act lawsuit against the county, in order for the county to avoid further complicating the litigation.
Commissioner Didier had previously selected Map 4, which created a district covering Pasco and two large geographic districts splitting the rest of the county. Didier indicated at Tuesday’s hearing that he was not happy with that map either.
During this week’s meeting, the three commissioners said they felt like they were not given enough information to make the best choice, saying they had not seen demographic breakdowns of the population of voting age residents by district for each of the maps.
Map committee frustrated
About a dozen members of the public, from both sides of the political aisle, spoke on Tuesday. Two members of the county’s map committee expressed their frustration with the process.
Lupe Cardenas, who served on the committee to help the county select a map, said he was frustrated to learn that the commissioners said they did not have the information needed to make an informed decision.
“I guess I feel like I wasted my time helping on this committee if you guys didn’t have all the information that we had,” Cardenas said. “We put in a lot of effort, and I think we had a good group and committee. The work we set out to do was to help you come up with the best maps.”
The committee recommended four of six maps, but the commissioners chose to go with a different one with minimal changes to the current districts. Cardenas said choosing a map isn’t about political parties, it’s about everyone’s voice being heard.
“I don’t want to pay anymore money for the lawsuit, but at the same time, I’m going to fight the heck out of it, and I’m going to vote for what’s right,” Cardenas said. “I need my vote to be counted. And if other people don’t want to vote, fine.”
Felix Vargas, who also served on the committee, sent a letter to be read to the board.
Vargas said he was disappointed that the board chose to move forward with a map that was similar to the current map, which landed the county in hot water. He also noted that this map was not even one of the selections reviewed by the committee.
He said that if the county moves forward with the map being discussed, they are going to have to fight it in court because it has the same problems as the current map.
“By ignoring the advice and recommendations of your committee, the commissioners have chosen to take Franklin County herd over the cliff,” Vargas wrote.
Public Input
The main point of contention for speakers was that the map selected was too similar to the existing map. The county is currently being sued for alleged voters rights violations because of their current district boundaries.
While many of the speakers disagreed with each other politically, most were concerned about the rising cost of the lawsuit and ensuring everyone felt like their voices would be heard.
Franklin County Republican Party secretary LaWanda Hatch tried to say it is actually Franklin County residents who do not live in the city of Pasco who lack representation because city residents have the city council.
City of Pasco elected officials have no say in the decisions of the county’s board of commissioners. Residents of other cities in the county, including Mesa and Connell, also have their own elected representatives to handle city affairs. While the cities can work with the county, their elected officials do not represent constituents in county affairs.
“I heard this gentleman say last week they’re being taxed without representation. Crazy,” Hatch said. “What they want is the rest of the county to only have one (representative), and yet I can tell you, per person, those that live out in the county pay a lot more in property taxes than those that pay in the city.”
The Tri-Cities Latin Business Association President David Cortinas said that at one point his organization’s newsletter had endorsed all three of the commissioners, and that he has enjoyed a good working relationship with each of them, but he is disappointed they now can not reach a decision that is fair to all residents, and will avoid sinking more money into the voters rights lawsuit.
He noted that in Yakima, when the county was sued for similar voters rights violations, their leaders tried to fight changing their maps, and ended up spending several million more dollars in taxpayers funds just for the judge to make the decision for them.
Cortinas said that if residents wanted to know what happens with the lawsuit if commissioners choose a map too similar to the current one, they only have to look at other areas of Washington who have lost the same fight. The county’s attorneys at the meeting said they could not offer the public legal advice about the lawsuit.
“I’m really surprised that the three of you … can’t come up with a fair map according to the voters right act,” Cardenas said. “Three smart commissioners cannot get in compliance with the voters right act. It’s very simple and we cannot do that.”
Next steps
After hearing from the public, the board decided to leave public commenting open through their next meeting, and wants to encourage residents to call or send emails with their thoughts.
Residents can contact commissioners by calling 509-545-3535 or emailing them individually, bit.ly/3EVPaT9.
The next commission meeting is Tuesday, Jan. 11.
