Standard-Examiner: Outrage Over Redistricting Senate Seats in Ogden

Is Senator Reid right in this instance? Or is Demo Party Chair Jim Dabakis's concept correct?

Fascinating front page story in this morning's Standard-Examiner, highlighting the latest dust-up in Utah's ongoing legislative redistricting project. With the release of the most recent proposed district maps, the controversy over the majority party's possible gerrymandering of State Senate Districts has now arrived right here in Ogden City's lap, with a Senator Stuart Reid-designed map, which like Caesar's European map of old ("Gallia est omnis divisa in partes tres"), would divide our own Emerald City into three parts:

• Outrage over redistricting Senate seats in Ogden

Inasmuch as Ogden City has arguably the the most concentrated Democratic Party demographic in the state, State Democratic Party Jim Dabakis is mad as a wet hen:

The chairman of the state's Democratic Party, however, calls it "blatant gerrymandering" designed to protect the senators who now sit in those seats.

"I am outraged at what they have done in Ogden," said state Democratic Chairman Jim Dabakis. "Reid's (Sen. Stuart Reid, R-Ogden) explanation is the most preposterous thing I've seen in my life. That's ridiculous, and people in Ogden are smart enough to smell that for what it is. It's incumbent protection."

Senator Reid, however, (who seldom makes a decision without getting the opinion of Boss Godfrey), advances the argument that a redistricting plan, which would water down Ogden's Democratic Party-inclining demographic with the far more GOP-oriented elements of adjacent outlying rural areas, would net a big benefit in the Utah Senate, i.e., drastically increased political clout:

Reid said Weber's three senators -- himself, Sen. Scott Jenkins, R-Plain City, and Sen. Allen Christensen, R-North Ogden, "all have a piece of Ogden city, and we'll also have rural, so we've tried to represent in this design both the urban and rural interests, and for Ogden city, I felt it was very important to draw the lines so Ogden had as many representatives as it could, as many senators as it could represent its interests in the Senate and the House."

Reid said he checked with Mayor Matthew Godfrey and said he agreed "it's clearly in the best interests of the city to have as many senators as you can representing your interests, especially Ogden, which in the past has been pretty much a stepchild."

So what about it, O Gentle Ones? Is GOP Senator Reid right in this instance? Does it make sense to slice and dice Ogden's neighborhoods into three State Senate Districts (which string off into Utah's rural areas)? Or is Demo Party Chair Jim Dabakis's concept correct? Should Ogden be ideally represented by a single senator, whose major focus is upon Ogden's specific interests?

That's it for now, WCF readers.

Who'll be the first to chime in with their own take on this issue?

A Heads-up On a Couple of Time-sensitive Events

The filing period for Ogden City municipal elective offices is fast drawing to a close; and the 2011 Redistricting Committee is coming to Ogden tonight

Although red meat news is in short supply this morning, we'll give our readers a heads-up on a couple of time-sensitive events.

1) The filing period for Ogden City municipal elective offices is fast drawing to a close. As set forth in this morning's Standard-Examiner story, "[t]he filing period for municipal races ends at 5 p.m. Friday [July 15]":

• Candidates file to run for Ogden mayor, council

While we're up to our eyeballs with candidates who've already filed (or announced their intentions to file) for the Mayor's office, the candidate slates for City Council offices still remain slim, with solo candidates still remaining unopposed for two of the three contested Council seats. Now's no time for apathy, gentle readers. If you're at all inclined to throw your own hat in the ring for one of these contested Council eats, you should be aware that time for your candidate filing is fast running out.

It's in that connection that we'd like to give aspiring Council candidates a little nudge. In truth, no conscientious citizen likes it when people run unopposed. C'mon prospect Ogden Council members... we know you won't let that happen, right?

2) The 2011 Redistricting Committee is coming to Ogden tonight (July 13th.) They will be at the Ben Lomond High School Auditorium, at 1080 9th Street. The meeting begins at 6 PM. The Salt Lake Tribune carries an interesting article in this connection, highlighting the local implications of the 2011 redistricting, as it will likely effect Ogden's House Legislative Districts 9 and 10 (among other Districts):

• Redistricting plan puts the squeeze on incumbents

Tonight's public hearing represents the last local opportunity to throw in your own 2¢. So we urge readers who are concerned about the outcome of this redistricting matter to plan to attend.

Standard-Examiner: Counties Play Musical Statehouse Chairs; Davis May Gain the Seat Weber Loses

Does the targeting of Dixon Pitcher's House District 10 seat for elimination amount to mere coincidence... or something more sinister?

The Standard-Examiner fattens out the facts this morning on the SLTrib story which we highlighted last week, which reported that Ogden's Utah House Legislative District 10 seat is about to be eliminated by the GOP-dominated legislative panel which is in the process of whipping up a new Utah legislative district redistricting plan. This morning's SE story again reports that GOP Rep. Dixon Pitcher's House Legislative District 10 seat is likely to be on the chopping block:

• Counties play musical statehouse chairs; Davis may gain the seat Weber loses

Regular WCF readers will of course recall that House 10's Rep. Pitcher was one of the first contientious maverick GOP legislators to break party ranks and to speak out against GRAMA-gutting H.B. 277 .

So what about it, gentle readers? Does the targeting of Pitcher's district seat for elimination amount to mere coincidence... or are we witnessing mean-spirited GOP legislative retaliation against an independent-minded GOP legislator who refused to let his party "leadership" (so-called) do his thinking for him?