Districting Maps Worked Over Eugster Rips One Proposal, Saying It Allows South Hill Dominance

When the Spokane City Council began considering three districting maps Monday night, most council members kept their opinions to themselves and let the public speak.

All of them, that is, except Steve Eugster.

Eugster tore into one map, blasting it as a naked attempt at consolidating power for the South Hill.

The map, which was designed by Eastern Washington University Professor Bob Herold, splits the southern two-thirds of Spokane into two vertical bands, while leaving a strip across the north as the third district.

While the other two maps isolate the South Hill as one district, Herold’s map gives the South Hill the potential to elect four council members.

“I know exactly what Dr. Herold is trying to do,” Eugster said. “It all looks good, but it’s an effort to perpetuate the political dominance of the South Hill.”

The map was supported by a number of speakers at Monday’s meeting, including Don Higgins, executive director of the West Central Community Center. Herold was out of town Monday.

Herold’s map is a “blending of haves and have-nots,” said Higgins. “You have all the groups coming together.”

According to a ballot initiative passed last November, the City Council is charged with picking one of three districting maps drawn up by Spokane residents and approved by a districting board.

The council has until March 17 to pick an option.

When the districts are in place, two council members will be elected from each of three districts, starting in 2001. The seventh council member, the council president, will be elected at large. The goal of the initiative’s author was to increase council accountability and representation.

Eugster said Herold’s map does the opposite.

“If you want representation, you have just kissed it goodbye,” Eugster said. “The whole idea was to ensure other points of view. What Dr. Herold is representing is a giant step backward.”

Higgins, who is not related to councilman Rob Higgins, said the South Hill does not always dominate elections, as in 1997 when Mayor John Talbott won with significant North Side support.

In addition, Higgins said, the South Hill will play a role in any campaign because of its financial resources. “They’re going to donate anyway,” he said.

Herold’s map was supported by members of the Northwest Neighborhood Association.

“Our opinion is that it’s the least disruptive of neighborhood boundaries,” said Adrian Herrick, vice chairman of the association.

Also speaking for Herold’s map was Dorothy Spoerhase, a West Central resident.

“Diversity is a sign of a healthy community,” Spoerhase said. “I’d like to see our districts be as diverse as they can be, economically and ethnically.”

For that reason, Spoerhase hoped the council would reject the map option that split the city into three horizontal bands.

“You have a virtual walled community in the north and south,” she said. “The interests of the less affluent could easily be outvoted.”