PORT TOWNSEND — The idea of moving Port Townsend and much of the populated area of East Jefferson County out of the 24th Legislative District and placing it into the 23rd is still on the table but is facing considerable opposition.
In addition to Port Townsend, the idea put forth by former U.S. Sen. Slade Gorton would place Port Ludlow, Port Hadlock, Chimacum, Irondale and Marrowstone Island in the 23rd District, joining them with Bainbridge Island and Poulsbo.
Gorton has said splitting up Jefferson County is justified because the western and eastern portions are so different.
“Port Townsend has a lot more in common with the 23rd District than it does with the west,” he said.
The change also would place all of Grays Harbor County within the 24th District.
About a third of the Grays Harbor County population is now in the 24th District, which also covers all of Jefferson and Clallam counties.
One of two plans
The plan was among those that survived the cut during a special meeting of the Washington State Redistricting Commission in October, when four legislative plans, two each from Democrats and Republicans, were whittled to one from each party.
Gorton and former state Rep. Tom Huff are the Republican members of the redistricting commission.
The Democratic plan does not change the boundaries of the 24th Legislative District.
Democratic plan
It keeps Clallam and Jefferson counties together with a portion of Grays Harbor County.
Under either proposal, current 24th District representatives — Sen. Jim Hargrove of Hoquiam and Reps. Kevin Van De Wege and Steve Tharinger, both of Sequim — would stay in place. All are Democrats.
The Republican plan is opposed by committee member and former Seattle Deputy Mayor Tim Ceis, a Democrat, as well as legislators from both districts.
“It makes no sense to move Port Townsend into another district because it would require us to compensate for the loss of population by going further down the coast,” Ceis said.
“This move would make it harder to reconcile the districts.”
When the bipartisan Washington State Redistricting Commission met Tuesday in Olympia, it split the western part of the state between the committee members and scheduled meetings every Tuesday through December with the hope of submitting a final plan by the end of the year.
The meetings will be at 10:30 a.m. every Tuesday in December in the John A. Cherberg Building, 41 Sid Snyder Ave. S.W., Olympia.
Subcommittees
Ceis and Gorton are tasked with redistricting an area north of Seattle to the Canadian border while Washington Retail Association founder Tom Huff and former House Chief Clerk Dean Foster are charged with dividing up the southwestern part of the state.
The Hood Canal is the dividing line between the two regions, so moving Port Townsend concerns both camps.
Any redistricting plan must be approved by three of the four commissioners prior to being submitted to the state Legislature.
If three do not approve a single plan, the proposals will be addressed by the state Supreme Court.
“We will make this work,” Ceis said.
“No one wants to see this handed off to the Supreme Court.”
Redistricting is not changing the number of legislative districts, which is 49, but increasing the population of each to 137,235 people, up from 120,288 in 2001, based on the 2010 Census.
The commission is expected to have decisions on changes made by January.
Appleton objects
The proposal to place part of East Jefferson County in the 23rd District prompted a major objection from Rep. Sherry Appleton, D-Poulsbo, who would represent Port Townsend if the change is made.
“Legislative districts are not supposed to go across major geographical boundaries, so I’m surprised that this proposal has gotten so far,” she said.
“I don’t think they’ve really looked at this very carefully.”
If the districts are redrawn, Appleton and her 23rd District colleagues Sen. Christine Rolfes and Rep. Drew Hansen, both Bainbridge Island Democrats, would have to “spend a lot of time visiting Port Townsend to learn the issues,” Appleton said.
“But the needs of the districts are very different,” she added.
“Kitsap is more urban than Jefferson, and the current legislators know their district very well and are doing a good job.”
Tharinger said in October that Gorton’s proposal “doesn’t have anything to do with good government, good governance or good representation.
“It doesn’t work geographically or politically for the people on the Peninsula,” Tharinger said.
“There are a lot of transportation issues having to do with the Hood Canal Bridge that aren’t Bainbridge Island issues.”
Congressional boundaries
After the legislative boundaries are defined, the commissioners will redraw congressional boundaries to create a new 10th Congressional District.
Foster has proposed a plan to carve that district out of the Olympic Peninsula.
That plan would end Rep. Norm Dicks’ 6th Congressional District representation of the North Olympic Peninsula.
Dicks, D-Belfair, was first elected to Congress in 1976 and is the senior Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee.
The new districts must be in place in time for the 2012 election season, which will require candidates to file in June in time for the Aug. 7 primary. The general election will be Nov. 6.
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Jefferson County Reporter Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at charlie.bermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
