Lane County voters to consider new approach to redistricting Nov. 5

Lane County voters will decide in November whether to remove commissioners from redistricting, starting in 2025. In their final meeting before state election deadlines, commissioners asked county counsel to combine redistricting ideas from multiple contributors. They accepted all recommendations from legal reviewers, four of five contributions from the charter review committee, and a new approach to redistricting from Harrang Long that would start next year.

[00:00:25] The new redistricting committee would produce new county commissioner districts six months before the 2026 election.

[00:00:32] Redistricting is the fourth of four proposed amendments to the Lane County home rule charter, often referred to as ‘the county’s constitution.’

[00:00:43] Morgan Munro (Charter Review Committee, Aug. 6): Our committee came up with some areas of unanimous agreement. And the committee unanimously recommends that the commissioners do not initiate the midcycle redistricting effort that’s proposed in ‘25. We heard a fascinating and impactful presentation from your own county clerk, and she spoke to the threat to election integrity and security in this county if redistricting was initiated in 2025.

[00:01:14] John Q: Later in the meeting:

[00:01:17] Commissioner Pat Farr: Well, I’m going to just state my intent and my feeling on this. I believe we do need to redistrict before 2030. And the reason that we do is because the districts that we have do not accurately reflect an impartial redistricting. Currently we have five commissioners can be from the city of Eugene in the next election.

[00:01:35] We could turn out with five commissioners from the city of Eugene, and there are elements of it that just weren’t right. So I am and have been, for every statement that I’ve made, in favor of redistricting before the next election (not before the last election, which I was in—before the next election, which I’m not in). I would like to see that happen. I know that there are people in this audience who don’t want to see that happen.

[00:01:56] But the important part of this is, is that the element of democracy. I would like to see redistricting happen. I’m only one person. I would like for the people of Lane County to have a weigh in on whether or not we should redistrict before the next election. If they say ‘No,’ so be it. If they say ‘Yes,’ well then, they agree with me on it, that there should be a redistricting.

[00:02:17] So, that’s what I want to move forward with, is an item on the November ballot that includes the mention of redistricting in midcycle. It doesn’t say, ‘This is it.’ It says, ‘Now you get to choose.’ It puts it on the ballot. That’s what we’re doing is we’re putting it on the ballot for the people of Lane County to choose. And at that point, we have between now and whenever the election is, whenever the ballots are distributed, for the pros and the cons to discuss it, in multiple public hearings.

[00:02:46] So, if anybody in this room disagrees with me that the ballot is the ultimate way to test democracy, raise your hand.

[00:02:54] John Q: With the combined efforts of multiple groups:

[00:02:58] Commissioner Ryan Ceniga: I move to approve Order 24-08-06-06 with revisions based on the feedback from legal counsel and the Charter Review Committee; using all the revisions outlined by Attachment C from Miller Nash and items 3, 4, and 5 from the Charter Review Committee, to be provided to the County Clerk for the November 5, 2024 ballot. (Second that.)

[00:03:25] John Q: After some discussion:

[00:03:28] Commissioner Pat Farr: Well then, I’ll offer an amendment to the motion so the net effect is that there would be a 2025 redistricting. So the only difference from the actual motion is allowing for a 2025 redistricting. It’s the board order intact as is, but allowing for a 2025 redistricting.

[00:03:45] John Q: During the afternoon meeting, Lane County Counsel returned with the changes.

[00:03:50] Lane County Counsel: I was able to revise the charter language. We added the language back, that was sort of unanimously rejected from the Charter Review Committee and that was the language to include a midcycle redistricting effort.

[00:04:05] John Q: One change made by county counsel was to offer a little more flexibility for next year’s redistricting.

[00:04:11] Lane County Counsel: Starting in 2030, there are very prescriptive dates for when these events are to occur: when you select the commission; when you notice; and search for applicants.

[00:04:22] In order to create some flexibility, so that staff has some flexibility and also just so that we weren’t being overly prescriptive given the sort of tightened time frame between now and the 2026 general election, we added some general language that would include that basically anytime that there was something that was ordered that should occur, that it should occur at least six months prior to the 2026 general election.

[00:04:46] We chose that language because in the current format, the commissioners who do the redistricting, the deadline is six months prior to the next election when the new districts will occur. So we use that six-month timeframe to sort of use a guidepost for the 2026 general election.

[00:05:02] So anytime there is a specific date that needs to occur, that is prescriptive starting in 2030. However, for 2026, we created a little bit more flexibility to account for some of that burden on staff so that they can adjust the deadlines and the dates that will be necessary to get that work done.

[00:05:19] That was the main change that we made from the original proposed charter amendment language that was in your packet.

[00:05:28] Commissioner Heather Buch: I just want to express my extreme disappointment that we are here today looking at this board order and not respecting the committee’s request for more time to review all the ins and outs of the independent redistricting committee as they’ve requested. I’m also disappointed that we’re not providing the public a public hearing on this order and not getting additional input.

[00:05:59] It’s clear that there’s a rush specifically to incorporate a midcycle redistricting, which can only be politically motivated. There is really no need to rush another redistricting at this time. We shouldn’t be governing this way. This isn’t the way the county should govern for the people of Lane County.

[00:06:24] It is a horribly rushed process and we’re not transparent to the public by getting public input through a hearings process.

[00:06:36] I can’t believe that we are in this position today. This should not be happening, and we should be giving it due time and process, in order to make a committee that really incorporates all the language that the committee wanted to provide, the time and resources that they’ve requested, as well as a fully public transparent process.

[00:07:07] Commissioner David Loveall: I just want to note just, I mean, everybody’s got their own feelings about this. I just want to make sure that I’ve got mine out there as well. The committee is there for recommendations. The committee has not been given the authority to give us absolutes on how the Board of County Commissioners votes or decides. That’s up to us, based on who elected us—over 75,000 people in our each of our districts.

[00:07:28] Secondly, the reason we’re here mostly is because there is a commissioner whose political strategist was on the last board—and their wives. And to me that just makes sure that the political selection system of voting maps is going to be slighted regardless. So I’m wanting to go on public record saying: I don’t want that to happen again. I want it to be more neutral. I want it to be more fair. I want it to be more objective. And I want it to be democratic. That’s why we’re putting this in front of the voters today.

[00:07:58] Commissioner Laurie Trieger: This proposal, as it’s written, as I understand it, seats a committee that the board has zero hand in selecting any members. Our current process, the board selects a seated group that then selects the rest.

[00:08:13] But the Board of County Commissioners would have zero input, to membership of this committee. And the committee would say, ‘This is the map to adopt.’ It takes the commissioners out of any part… I just want to get on the record and also for my colleagues to consider before we move forward, that if we took more time, we could be addressing and not, in fact, obligating future boards to some of the challenges inherent in this, as it’s written. There are a number of items in here which I think are too vague, and opportunities to be out of compliance…

[00:08:50] The memo from our county clerk, which is on page 17 of the packet, lays out—and I think, I hope we can all agree, there is absolutely no motivation there other than to ensure proper operation of that office—she lays out grave concerns and challenges and skepticism of the ability to manage what is being asked of her if we force through this midcycle redistricting.

[00:09:20] Commissioner Pat Farr: Thanks, and I just wanted to address that a little bit. This memo was from the county clerk prior to the recommendations of the CRC (Charter Review Committee). So the county clerk didn’t see the recommendations that actually took the county clerk’s office out of many of the items of workload. I asked the question this morning: Does this remove the onerous nature of adding workload to the county clerk’s office? And the answer seemed to be ‘Yes.’

[00:09:45] Commissioner Heather Buch: The board needs to be perfectly clear that this is going to require significantly more resources for the Elections Department in order to process. That money has to come from somewhere, and with the financial issues that we’re having this year in our budget, we’re going to have to actually take a hard look at where those resources are coming from.

[00:10:08] It’s going to require more people in that department, time, energy, legal fees, because we’re going to have to have county counsel work on this. That means deferring other work that they would normally be doing. This is going to cost taxpayers money to redistrict next year in a midcycle. I’d like to know exactly how much that’s going to be.

[00:10:31] Commissioner Pat Farr: And just a reiteration that we’re not passing an ordinance here. We’re asking for something to be placed on the ballot for the entire voting population to weigh in on. It’s not the end of the discussion. The discussion really is just beginning on what is being placed on the ballot, just like any ballot. And I’ll restate it and I don’t think I’m wrong when I say that the ultimate democratic process is what happens at the ballot box on election day. Thank you.

[00:10:55] Commissioner Laurie Trieger: Seeing no further discussion to the motion, I’ll call for the vote. All those in favor, signify with an ‘Aye.’ (Aye.) Those opposed, ‘Nay.’ (Nay.) The motion carries 3-2 with Commissioners Buch and Trieger voting against.

[00:11:09] John Q: Lane County voters will get a chance to adopt a new approach to redistricting, which would prepare new districts in time for the 2026 election.