Of Cabbages and Kings
by BOB BARTON
I’ve been observing and sometimes participating in the redistricting of congressional, legislative, county and more recently, city governmental bodies, on a once every decade basis since 1960.
Like many old geezers, I have an inclination to judge current fights along these lines more harshly than I did in my youth. But, by jingoes, there is considerable justification in my current reactions. Redistricting fights are now dominated by computer geeks whose loyalty is to their bosses – well-paid consultants. Their only duty is to tirelessly seek ways to advance the fortunes of the politician who pays them big bucks to map out their route to higher office, and perhaps fame and fortune.
Not many folks, regardless of their party affiliation, can argue that we are going in the right direction when it comes to how elections are conducted, especially when you consider the heavy flow of poorly identified funds from contributors with heavy vested interests.
On the local level, Kyle city redistricting went smooth as silk. There are only three single member districts compared to four at-large, so the stakes aren’t as great. But a bigger factor involves the non-partisan aspects of city elections. We need to expand this non-partisanship to all of our county and state judicial selections. State Senator Jeff Wentworth has long pushed for this change, but it is violently opposed by all the big law firms and corporate entities that currently finance the campaigns.
A big positive factor in Kyle was a galore of public hearings and a city council that did not interfere or seek special treatment. Hays County Commissioners could take some lessons from their Kyle neighbors. The Kyle redistricting committee drew up four proposals for the council to choose from; elected council members themselves drew up zilch. By contract, the county commissioners drew up more than 20 of their own, while the public drew up only one or two. Result? Considerable hard feelings still linger along the Interstate 35 corridor over the county’s decision while Kyle’s redistricting went down smooth.
On the state front, both congressional and legislative redistricting proposals are in bad shape. The legislature itself did a horrible job on both. As a result, two sets of judges – one in San Antonio and another in Washington, D.C., are almost certain to make serious changes in the laughable plan that split Hays County into three outrageous congressional districts. That same plan creates a 210-mile long state senatorial district that runs along the Interstate 35 corridor and is served by a Laredo incumbent.
Two Republican wanna-be U.S. Senators have decided to go for lesser state posts because they can no longer compete for contributions with our money bag lieutenant governor who is scaring off competitors because he is a rich man.
As for Democrats, the Republicans in Austin are doing their best to eliminate Congressman Lloyd Doggett once again after a whole raft of prior failures. They have deviously enlisted a wet-behind-the-ears San Antonio Hispanic who happens to be the twin of that city’s mayor. Chances are that this scheme won’t work. After all, Doggett, who a decade ago won re-election against a gerry-mandered Hispanic from the Rio Grande Valley, ain’t no pushover.
Ah, the legislature. If the greedy little buggers would just admit that personal political advancement outweighs any thought of community service, then you could think a little better of the majority of them as we await the close of the gerrymandering season.
