How to stop the infighting and backbiting over Wichita redistricting | Commentary

The best thing I can say about redistricting is that I’m old and I’ll never have to cover it again.

Imagine the worst movie you’ve ever seen, and being forced to watch it over and over and over. That’s what redistricting is.

It’s the once-every-10-years redrawing of legislative boundaries, where politicians get to choose their voters.

The plot never changes: Politicians make florid speeches about “fairness,” the “will of the voters” and “keeping areas of interest together;” committees are appointed, town hall meetings are held.

It’s all for show. In the end, the majority party gerrymanders the districts however it wants to expand its power and stick it to a few members of the loyal opposition.

Red districts get redder; blue districts get bluer. And the vast majority of incumbents from both parties share a toast to their re-election chances in their new and politically safer districts.

By accident of being born when I was, I’m covering my fifth cycle of redistricting: 1982, 1992, 2002, 2012 and 2022.

Lucky me.

This time around, it’s the Wichita City Council.

This redistricting could be the easiest I’ve ever seen. But they’re making it hard.

They’ve been working on this less than two weeks and already screwed it up multiple times.

First, they voted to approve every council member’s nominations to a redistricting advisory commission except Jeff Blubaugh’s nominee John Whitmer, a former state legislator and now right-wing talk show host. Moments later, they voted to seat Whitmer after all.

That’s got the gay community up in arms because Whitmer’s pet project in Topeka was an attempted state law to tell transgender people where to pee. He’s a nice enough guy when you get to know him, but if he ever had a nonpartisan thought, it long ago died of loneliness.

Mayor Brandon Whipple went on social media saying he was “embarrassed” by the makeup of the commission, which also includes former Texas Republican operative Tex Dozier and Rep. Patrick Penn, last seen a week ago demanding that the County Commission ”correct” Commissioner Lacey Cruse’s views on the abortion amendment on the Aug. 2 ballot.

This week, in a series of motions and counter-motions, the council rejected a Whipple move to add four more women to the commission. The council also shot down an effort by council member Brandon Johnson to double the size of the group by letting each council member pick two commission members instead of one.

Council member Becky Tuttle, who nominated Penn, admonished Whipple for criticizing other members’ appointees online, saying that makes it hard to recruit people to serve on appointed boards.

It doesn’t have to be like this.

Four of the six council districts are already within the 5% variance established in city code and needn’t be touched.

The council could bring all its districts into compliance simply by moving one precinct from Tuttle’s 2nd District into Mike Hoheisel’s 3rd District.

To comply with code, each district must be within a range of 62,942 to 69,568 residents.

Right now, Tuttle represents 71,111 residents and Hoheisel, 62,598.

This could be rectified by moving one small precinct, Precinct 205. It runs from the south side of Kellogg to a small street just south of Lincoln, and west to east between Woodlawn and Governeour.

The would give Hoheisel 1,649 more voters, bringing him to 64,293 and Tuttle to 69,416, which is within the allowable variance.

If you want to get the numbers closer than that, you could move a larger south Wichita precinct, Precinct 207, which wraps around the north end of McConnell Air Force Base and extends out southeast to Webb Road and Pawnee.

That’s 5,326 voters and would give Hoheisel 67,924 to Tuttle’s 67,785, a difference between the two districts of only 139 voters.

That’s how simple this could be.

But instead of moving one precinct, Wichita plans to hem and haw around with this until Christmas.

Here’s the procedural schedule:

July and August — Appoint Commission of Electors to develop scenarios for redistricting, recommend map.

September and October — City Council approves or makes changes to commission recommendation.

October and November — Presentations to district advisory boards.

December — Council (finally!) adopts a map and passes the ordinance.

The choice is simple: Move one precinct and call it a day; or put the community through 5 1/2 months of political maneuvering, backbiting and infighting.

I suspect we’re in for a long 5 1/2 months.