Well what do you know. I don't expect to hear any Republicans in the legislature agreeing with Hansen, but I'm pleased he said this anyway. Honesty. It's refreshing.While the Republican-dominated Utah Legislature fiercely defends its constitutional right and expertise in the once-a-decade task of redrawing voter districts, former U.S. Congressman Jim Hansen begs to differ.
"I don't know anybody who screws up more when it comes to reapportionment," Hansen, a former state House Speaker and Utah's longest-serving U.S. House member when he stepped down following the last redistricting.
He applauded the initiative effort that Fair Boundaries Coalition recently launched to put the formation of an independent redistricting commission on the Utah ballot in 2010.
"When the petitions come out, I'll be the first to sign," said the former 11-term congressman from Farmington.
The bounds set in 2001 were especially horrible, Hansen added.
"They were trying to get (Democratic Congressman) Jim Matheson," Hansen said. "That's the voters' job, not the place of the Legislature."
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Amazing. It can happen, with rare individuals. but mostly these days the overall group (Republicans) seems more like a cult to me than a broadly based political party.
What state does not abuse this re-district mandate. In North Carolina where I was forced to live for three horrid years there was one congressional district that was one to two miles wide and over 200 long. They called it that spaghetti district and it was drawn that way to keep blacks in the area from being able to elect their choice.
It was up before the Supreme Court on appeal when I left the state skipping all the way. Talk about having the Red State Blues!
Do you remember a couple of years ago when a bunch of Texan legislators left the state so as not to be able to vote on gerrymandered districts engineered by the Republicans at the time? Yes, it goes on everywhere. I hope we do get an independent commission here in Utah. It looks like we might be getting another district and it will be important that the lines be drawn fairly.
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