New Districts, Same Divisions Council Divides City Along Conventional Lines

Spokane City Council members will be elected from districts that both supporters and detractors said look like the way we think of Spokane.

On Monday, the City Council selected map 28, the most conventional of three districting plans put before the council for consideration.

Map 28 divides the city into the Northeast and Northwest, separated by Division Street, and the South Hill. Most of downtown will be included in the Northeast district.

“It divides the city as I think the city is commonly perceived,” said Eric Johnson, designer of the winning map.

Election by districts will begin in 2001. Two council members will be elected from each district, with the seventh council member, the Council President, elected at large.

Map 28 was approved by a 4-3 vote. Mayor John Talbott and council members Steve Corker, Steve Eugster and Cherie Rodgers voted for the map. The remaining council members all spoke in favor of map 55, which took a more dramatic approach to districting. Councilman Rob Higgins criticized the winning plan as “the way we used to do things.

“I really think this is old Spokane,” he said. “We’re in the new millennium. Let’s do something bold and different.”

Map 28 would perpetuate the city’s existing divisions between north and south, Higgins said. Map 55, which split the South Hill into two zones connected to poorer neighborhoods to the north, would integrate different economic zones, he said.

But critics of 55 said that with the current at-large representation, the City Council already reflects the city’s current economic mix.

Map 28 would guarantee the poorer neighborhoods of the Northeast a seat at the table, said Al French of the Nevada Lidgerwood neighborhood council.

“We felt diversity should be reflected at City Council level,” French said before the council. “To create districts that have the same diversity that the city does maintains the same distribution of power.”

Also up for consideration was map 4, which divided the city into three horizontal bands. Joseph Ritchey, designer of map 4, said his plan would encourage dialogue on the council.

“It ensures that no power faction from either north or south will control the city without the consent for the central district,” Ritchey said.

The plan received no support from the council.

Districting arose out of a ballot initiative last fall.

The goal, according to initiative author David Bray, is to create a council both more responsive and more accountable to its constituents.

The initiative required Spokane citizens to submit proposals to a districting board. The board, made up of three volunteers, selected three maps out of the nearly 60 submitted to forward to the City Council.

The only requirement of the maps in the initiative was that they be of nearly equal population. However, state law requires that districts be compact, contiguous and not designed to benefit any racial or ethnic group.