Stan Long: Let people, not politicians, set the county redistricting maps

Should everyday citizens create the final maps for Lane County commissioner districts? At the City Club Sept. 20:

Stan Long: I’m Stan Long. The first question you ought to be asking is: ‘How does one person get a charter amendment on the ballot?’ It’s pretty simple. I asked the commissioners to put it on the ballot. Why did I do that? Well, I’m a retired—long-retired—Oregonian. I had a long career in local government and then served in state government. I ran four different agencies for the state. I was part of that wonderful tradition in Oregon of nonpartisan management at the agency level.

[00:00:43] I ran the Commerce Department, I ran the Land Conservation and Development Commission, I was in charge of the Justice Department as the Deputy Attorney General, and I was the president of SAIF Corporation. I then went to Wall Street, partly because I couldn’t resist the temptation to go to New York. It was a wonderful time. Only a few things would cause me to take a break from retirement and appear in public for the first time in about 15 years.

[00:01:13] The aspiration for anti-gerrymandering legislation is as old as the country. In his Farewell Address, the indispensable citizen George Washington tried to remind everyone about the dangers of partisan politics and how it causes public servants to put party loyalty over the development of proper public policy.

[00:01:42] It’s the third-most-important document in American history. It was printed and taught in schools for years until civics was no longer important enough.

[00:01:54] So other states are on the move since 1970 to find mechanisms and procedures so that the lines of districts aren’t drawn to either favor a political party or protect an incumbent.

[00:02:12] Those are the two twin evils that have bothered most Americans for a generation. And of course computers and software make it possible to gin out maps with great speed. And because redistricting criteria is very broad, it’s very difficult to tell whether a change is made for partisan purposes or not.

[00:02:36] So, what’s been the remedy in places where the remedy worked? Michigan is the gold standard. Their system is to have somebody other than incumbents do the work.

[00:02:48] And second, to make sure the people who do the work have no interest in the outcome. Now, it’s perfectly legal to have all sorts of conflicts of interest on public commissions. You can have a commission of the players. You could even have a committee of the prison inmates work on security if you thought it would help.

[00:03:14] But most times in Oregon, we exclude people from public duties if they’re involved in the outcome, so they’re in effect sitting in judgment of their own cause.

[00:03:27] You cannot be on a jury in Oregon if you’re related to a party in the fourth degree, like your great-great uncle can’t be on your jury, even if he doesn’t know you. You can’t even be interested in the outcome of a particular legal question and be on a jury in Oregon. You can’t have an economic interest with one of the parties.

[00:03:51] Well, drawing up these maps is a quasi-judicial function. It’s like sitting in judgment. You’ve got all this data, you’ve got this criteria, you’re trying to do the right thing. You should not have an interest in the political campaigns you’re influencing.

[00:04:07] Lane County has a committee called the ‘Independent Redistricting Committee’ that’s not independent. It’s an all-comers opinion. It’s had lobbyists, paid political consultants, paid political consultants for active commissioners drawing the lines that influence elections.

[00:04:27] It is not illegal, but it is wrong in my judgment and it’s out of character with the Oregon tradition.

[00:04:35] So the main thing I did is I took the good work of the League of Women Voters on Initiative Petition 14 and dreamed up a list of prohibitions of people who can’t serve on redistricting committees.

[00:04:51] And then I made the commission more strict. Instead of making recommendations to the commissioners, my proposal is that everyday citizens drawn at random, free of conflicting interests, draw the final map.

[00:05:07] It may look exactly like what we have, but I doubt it. But I’ll have a lot more confidence in it, just as I have confidence in jury verdicts that they’re not tainted.

[00:05:19] I do not believe it’s possible to live up to the goal of a nonpartisan commission by electing them in a partisan fashion. And it matters more with a commissioner than anywhere else.

[00:05:32] It’s the only person in Oregon who’s permitted to make the law, apply the law, and judge the outcome. In other words, no separation of powers at the county level.

[00:05:45] I would submit because the county commissioners have all three powers and are required by law to be nonpartisan—It’s a nonpartisan office, we ought to elect them in a nonpartisan fashion.

[00:06:02] Otherwise, what’s at stake is you face a body that can make the law, apply it to you, judge you, all in one officer, no separation of powers. And Oregon is otherwise extremely strict on this point. Our constitution says no officer in any one branch of government shall exercise any power of another branch.

[00:06:28] That’s why they’re nonpartisan, and that’s why this measure should be put in the charter by the people and changed only by the people, because the only way that citizens will pick their representatives instead of the incumbent office holders picking their voters by drawing the lines to suit their purposes instead of the purposes of having a non-partial, impartial administration at the county level.  Thank you.

[00:06:58] KLCC Reporter Rebecca Hansen-White: I’m your moderator, KLCC Reporter Rebecca Hansen-White.

[00:07:04] Mr. Long, I think the most controversial aspect of this proposal is the 2025 redistricting. It took a lot of resources to redistrict the previous time and a lot of volunteer time from community. There was a lot of work to get public participation. Why does it have to happen next year? What’s wrong with waiting until the next batch of new data?

[00:07:30] Stan Long: The committee that’s called ‘independent,’ which I wouldn’t use that term. It’s euphemistic when you have people who are interested in the outcome drawing the maps.

[00:07:43] At the conclusion of the deliberations, an ethics complaint was filed because the person who was considered to be the author of the map that was adopted was charged with a conflict of interest. The basis of the charge was that he’d received $108,000 from two campaigns and was therefore interested in the outcome of the maps.

[00:08:09] That case was dismissed—as it should be. The reason why the charges should be dismissed is: There was no standard. There’s no prohibition on having your own campaign manager, your cousin, your uncle on the committee as it’s drawn now.

[00:08:26] We don’t do that with juries… So the first change that we’re proposing is to put some standards about who can serve. It’s that simple.

[00:08:37] And I have made this proposal twice. Backroom deal, my foot. I proposed this in 2020. They ignored me as is the usual case with outsiders. I can show you the correspondence. We put it before them. They ignored it. So I brought it back up again four years later. That’s how quick and sudden and backroom it was.

[00:09:02] I don’t know any commissioners. I just met my own. I have no relationship with them other than I’ve sued them three times since I’ve been retired and have won all three. So, I’m probably not their favorite person. But there are some things up with which you just don’t put, even if you’re retired.

[00:09:23] KLCC Reporter Rebecca Hansen-White: Why does it have to happen in 2025?

[00:09:26] Stan Long: Why would you run elections on maps that you know are polluted? Delaying justice is denying justice. Why does the League (of Women Voters) have a corrective redistricting in its proposal for the entire state for the exact same reason? Why is that the law everywhere except here, where we need it the most, because this is supposed to be a nonpartisan exercise? You can’t get partisan politics out of the courthouse fast enough. Why put it off? You want to run two or three more elections when you have no confidence—none—that it’s fairly done.

[00:10:09] KLCC Reporter Rebecca Hansen-White: Do you feel like what’s on the ballot right now will stand the test of time?

[00:10:13] Stan Long: I wrote the amendment to the constitution that created the Oregon Lottery. It looks to me like it stood. This one’s even stronger. This one’s more appropriate for the charter. Protecting voters from politicians belongs in the charter.

[00:10:34] My friend and former colleague Justice Jack Landau has written a long piece, and you ought to look at 106 Marquette Law Review, the work by Professor Williams. It’s an easy read, you don’t need to be a lawyer. It goes into all kinds of interesting things that have happened here in Lane County with my good friend, Sen. (Floyd) Prozanski.

[00:10:57] John Q: Lane County voters will decide Nov. 5 whether to choose the redistricting committee by lot from residents who don’t have an interest in the outcome. To learn more, read the Lane County Voter Pamphlet and the full text of Proposed Measure 20-362.