Boundaries will shift for all three commissioner districts in Clallam County, effective in 2012, and the lines are likely to be redrawn somewhere between McDonald Creek in the east and Dry Creek in the west.
That information will be presented, with more detail, during this week’s first public forum on realignment of Districts Nos. 1, 2 and 3, said Don Corson, one of the districting masters responsible for recommending new boundaries for the county’s three districts based on Census 2010 data.
“It won’t be the last time we have an opportunity to chat,” Corson, who is serving as No. 2 master with Gene Unger as lead master, said Friday.
The five-member Clallam County Districting Commission will host the forum at 2:30 p.m. Thursday in the commissioners’ meeting room (Room 160) at the Clallam County Courthouse, 223 E. Fourth St., Port Angeles.
Districting masters will present Census data, show growth in the county’s precincts, outline the process of realignment, display a map of present districts and seek public input, Corson said.
Clallam County’s population increased by 6,879 people during the past 10 years, rising from 64,525 to 71,404.
Sequim growth
“A significant part of the growth was in the Sequim area,” which is District No. 1, Corson said.
District No. 2 extends from Agnew into the east side of Port Angeles. District 3 covers the west side of Port Angeles and extends through the West End.
Because of a “ripple effect” west from District No. 1, “there’s no doubt” that boundaries will shift for all three Clallam County districts, Corson said.
“The county’s greatest population is in the greater Port Angeles area, so that’s where the lines probably will be changing,” Corson said.
“Lines are likely to be redrawn between McDonald Creek and Dry Creek,” he added.
After reviewing Census data April 1, the districting masters and commissioners decided that instead of presenting proposed changes to the public “to take our information to the general public as a first shot before any lines are drawn,” Corson said.
The courthouse was chosen as the location for the forum because it is a central location for those most likely to be affected by shifting boundary lines, Corson said.
Hearings in June
The districting commission will conduct a series of public hearings in June in each of the three districts after realignment proposals are completed. No hearings have been scheduled yet.
The county charter requires the districting master to submit a draft proposal for the new districts to the commissioners by June 30.
The changes would take effect in 2012.
“It will have no effect on this year’s elections,” Corson said.
Clallam is one of six charter counties in the state and the only county using the home rule form of government on the North Olympic Peninsula.
The county charter requires a reconsideration of district boundary lines every 10 years using federal Census information to ensure that all three county commissioners have similar population bases, within 5 percent of each other.
District boundary lines run north-south.
The districting commission hired Unger and Corson on March 22. The Clallam County commissioners have approved an $8,500 contract for the districting masters.
Backgrounds
Unger, the lead districting master, is a former Clallam County engineer. He chairs the county’s Permit Advisory Board and runs his own engineering firm.
Corson, who holds a doctorate in urban geography from the University of Oregon, was vice president of planning and development for Merrill & Ring for 19 years, retiring in 2009.
He has worked as a consultant in public planning, he said.
Unger and Corson have been longtime partners in Camaraderie Cellars, where Corson is the winemaker.
Corson started Camaraderie Cellars in 1992. Other partners in the business are his wife, Vicki, president of the North Sound Winery Association, and Unger’s wife, Mary Ann, who is an assistant principal at Port Angeles High School.
The districting commission will make a final recommendation to the Board of County Commissioners.
Commission members
The chairman of the commission is John Marrs, former chairman of the Clallam County Democratic Party and a retired college journalism instructor. He was appointed by the county Democratic Party.
Eric Foth is the secretary. Foth, who is retired from a lumberyard and lives east of Port Angeles, was appointed by the Clallam County Republican Party Chairman Dick Pilling.
He was a member of the campaign team for Jim McEntire in his failed bid for a 24th District seat in November, Pilling said. McEntire is a Port of Port Angeles commissioner.
Commissioner Mike Chapman appointed Paul Martin for District No. 2.
Chapman said Foth and Martin, a retiree, were the only applicants for District No. 2. He said Martin is a longtime community volunteer and had worked in Pennsylvania.
Commissioner Steve Tharinger appointed Earl Archer, a state committeeman for the Clallam County Democratic Party, as District No. 1 representative.
Archer, an attorney, is a retiree from California, Tharinger said.
Commissioner Mike Doherty appointed Forks Mayor Bryon Monohon for District No. 3.
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Managing Editor/News Leah Leach can be reached at 360-417-3531 or leah.leach@peninsuladailynews.com.
