The Clark County Public Service Center is pictured in Vancouver on Tuesday, April 14, 2020. (Alisha Jucevic/The Columbian) (Contributed photo)
Anyone tuning in to Wednesday evening’s Clark County Redistricting Committee meeting might have thought they were caught in a time loop. The committee once again deadlocked in a 3-2 vote on a new voting district map.
Wednesday’s vote was identical to the committee’s vote on the same map in December. Democratic members Janet Landesberg and Morgan Holmgren, and chair Greg Kimsey voted in favor of map B2, while Republican members Cemal Richards and Juan Gamboa voted against. The county charter requires a two-thirds majority of four votes to formally approve a map for consideration by the county council.
“There is one thing that’s different. It’s arguable how significant that difference is, but now the redistricting master submitted a single map to the committee,” Kimsey said.
After the redistricting committee failed to reach consensus in December, the task of drawing the county’s new boundaries was left to the Clark County Council. But some members of the council didn’t seem eager to take up the task either.
On Jan. 18, Councilors Julie Olson, Temple Lentz and Gary Medvigy voted to reconvene the redistricting committee and send the process back to them. Councilors Karen Bowerman and Eileen Quiring O’Brien opposed that decision.
After a second failed attempt by the redistricting committee, the decision will again go back to the county council. Unlike the redistricting committee, which had only one map to review and change, the county council can choose to start with an entirely different map.
“I don’t believe they are bound by what the redistricting master created for the committee,” Kimsey said. “My understanding is the council starts from scratch.”
Landesberg filed suit against the county in January to have a judge further define and interpret the county charter. The interpretation of one sentence in particular could affect how the county moves forward.
Section 6.6 of the charter states: “The redistricting plan shall be adopted as submitted or as amended by two-thirds majority vote of the redistricting committee.”
Landesberg, who is an attorney, said her interpretation is that the redistricting committee either adopts the map as presented or votes to amend it, but does not need to vote if the map is unchanged.
“The map that has been submitted is the map. It takes four of our votes to change it,” Landesberg said during the meeting.
Christine Cook from the Prosecuting Attorney’s Office said her office interpreted the sentence differently. Cook said the committee was required to vote to approve the map as well as vote to amend it.
“Any action the committee takes requires some vote,” Cook said. “According to the charter, it requires a two-thirds majority vote, and that is four votes.”
On Thursday, Landesberg said she was planning to file further pleadings on the lawsuit. A hearing on the charter section is scheduled in Clark County Superior Court on March 25.
The Clark County Council has yet to schedule a date to review the redistricting map.
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