Viewpoint: St. Joseph County redistricting process has been 'dysfunctional'
Opinion across the country is clear: The public is tired of political divisiveness. St. Joseph County is no exception, where there is now a huge divide between the two major parties resulting from the redistricting maps approved by two of three county commissioners and their impact on county council seats.
What has happened in St. Joseph County with only two commissioners approving maps, while ignoring citizen input, is now in the hands of the courts. This should have never occurred and is an embarrassment for elected officials. But the bottom line is: We should not be in this predicament.
The people of St. Joseph County put their trust in potential candidates and vote them into office. All of the elected officials place our trust in the voter, and when elected we should listen to their concerns.
The concerns about the process and the lack of community involvement with these maps have been overwhelming. Sure, there were some ads put out to the public, in legalese not designed to attract or invite input.
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There were no public forums to explain in detail what the maps are about. No public forum to explain how maps should be tweaked to conform to the population increase. No public forum on how to draw a map. After the commissioners' vote, there were two public forums at the Charles Martin Center, but neither of the two commissioners who voted for the maps attended. The entire process has been dysfunctional.
Gerrymandering refers to “political manipulation of electoral district boundaries with the intent of creating undue advantage for a party.”
Two examples include “packing,” which is the concentration of the opposing party’s voting power in one district, to reduce the voting power in others, and “cracking,” which is diluting the voting power of the opposing support across other districts.
My opinion is that maps should be fair so either party can win. Voters should decide an election, not the party with power to create maps which favor its candidates.
I was able to win in a district that was 59% Democrats and started 5,982 votes behind. I won by 942 votes. Elections should be determined by how hard a candidate works and how they connect with voters — not by a map drawn to force the vote based on party.
The entire process is a reason there is voter apathy. This is a reason the public does not trust elected officials. St. Joseph County is not like Washington, D.C., where parties are far apart, especially due to extreme positions. We are not far apart at all in the county.
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Again, this process should have been a product of the commissioners and the County Council working together. We should not put our future in the hands of out-of-town attorneys. They don’t live here, work here, go to church here or raise their families here.
I fault myself for voting to hire a firm for the maps; I should have asked more questions about the process, I thought there would be more input during the process of the maps. There was not, so shame on me.
Making maps that make elections less competitive leaves St. Joseph County voters feeling like their votes don’t matter. The citizens are the people who vote, and their concerns should be paramount, not the interests of a single party wanting to make a power grab.
Voters should pick their officeholders, not the other way around.
Derek Dieter is a St. Joseph County commissioner.
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Opinion: Process of creating St. Joseph County maps dysfunctional
