County to re-district for fall

Regardless of the outcome of this fall’s election, residents of LaCrosse and Endicott may have a different commissioner next year as Whitman County redraws its district boundaries.

Because of growth in Pullman, the number of voters in commissioner district 3 is dramatically above voter counts in districts 1 and 2.

As of March, District 3 had 8,285 voters, while District 1 had 5,651 and District 2 had 4,809.

To fix that, Whitman County elections officials are considering a plan that would move rural precincts from District 3 to districts 1 and 2.

“We’re still trying to work out the counts,” said Debbie Hooper, elections supervisor. “But this looks like the way we may have to go.”

Whitman County gained 4,126 people in the 2010 Census, but only because Pullman’s population grew by 5,124 people. Most of that new growth has been in District 3.

Hooper said the plan currently under consideration would move Endicott and LaCrosse into District 1. Colfax, too, may have different commissioners representing its urban and rural precincts.

It would also have District 1 covering a vast geographic area that spreads from Tekoa and Lamont at its northern border to Hooper and Pullman on the south.

That may mean Commissioner Michael Largent and port Commissioner Tom Kammerzell will sit in new districts that consist of the Wilcox and several Pullman precincts.

Though they are geographically separated, Wilcox would be grouped with Pullman because both Largent and Kammerzell live in the Wilcox district.

Hooper said some of the District 3 precincts in Pullman may be transferred to District 2 to even out that discrepancy.

While District 2 has 13 Pullman precincts to District 3’s seven, Hooper said the District 3 precincts have much more active voters. District 1 has only one precinct in Pullman; number 228 in the north end.

Hooper said shift of rural districts is caused by a number of rules on how new district lines can be drawn.

New district lines can not bounce an incumbent out of the district they represent. Hooper added the county can not shift precinct boundaries in Pullman because the city approved new boundaries for its three wards earlier this year.

Auditor Eunice Coker explained the county does not have enough resources to divy up Pullman’s growing population instead of shifting rural precincts.

“I’m not happy about it, but we don’t have the time or the technology to split up Pullman,” said Coker. “This is one area which shows we haven’t been keeping up with technology.”

Use of a GIS system would have allowed the county to shift around Pullman’s precincts, said Coker.

The county in January hired Courtney Thompson, a GIS technician for Lincoln County’s public works department, to help come up with a plan.

Coker said Thompson did not have enough time to draw up precise boundary lines. Her work may be most helpful as a baseline in future redistricting efforts, said Coker.

The county’s new voting boundaries must be submitted to the secretary of state by April 30. The plan will be finalized in the next couple weeks in advance of a public hearing before county commissioners April 30.