Plan to redo districts shelved

Clark County Commission districts will remain the same, at least until 2010, after commission Chairman Rory Reid said he will pull the plug on a controversial redistricting plan.

Reid said Thursday that the commission is too divided to move forward with the plan, which would have shifted districts and commissioners for 343,000 residents before the 2010 census.

"My goal was to get consensus from various board members," he said. "It's obvious that that won't happen."

The commission voted 4-3 on Tuesday to move forward with the proposal. The vote followed a contentious debate and cries from Commissioners Chris Giunchigliani and Tom Collins that the plan was being pushed for political purposes.

Giunchigliani and Collins had been vocal opponents of redistricting between census years and almost assuredly were going to vote against the redistricting. They were joined in opposition by Commissioner Lawrence Weekly.

"It should be based on general consensus, if possible. I kind of thought we had that. It looks like we don't," Reid said.

Commissioner Bruce Woodbury has for years pushed to redistrict between the once-a-decade nationwide head counts. Uneven growth leads some districts to become much larger than others, he said.

"With the rapid growth in the community, we get so out of balance mid-decade, we should really do one redistricting between the censuses and keep constituents' votes relatively equal," Woodbury said Thursday.

But, he said, when it comes to the politically sensitive topic of redistricting, there should be more consensus.

"It can be kind of personal with each commissioner," he said. "We shouldn't do a 4 to 3 vote and force it on commissioners who don't want it."

Woodbury's district will remain the largest, with 116,000 more residents than the smallest district, represented by Commissioner Lawrence Weekly, according to 2005 data compiled by county staff. Under the proposal, the largest population disparity between districts would have been 18,000 people.

Critics contended that redistricting was being pushed to benefit Commissioner Chip Maxfield. The Republican is facing re-election next year, and the new plan would have added 1,700 registered Republicans to his district.

Like Woodbury, Maxfield said he agrees with Reid's decision to halt the redistricting plan.

"When we started this whole redistricting discussion, it was always and only about doing what was best and fair for residents of Clark County," he said. "Considering the lack of consensus, the concerns from some of the members, the appropriate thing to do is we don't move forward with it."

Labor unions and Democratic leadership had been preparing to wage a battle over the redistricting plan. A similar coalition opposed an attempt to rejigger commission borders two years ago.

Pilar Weiss, political director of the Culinary union, said redistricting disenfranchises voters.

"We're promoting civic engagement to our members, and it's hard if they're constantly being moved out of a district."

Collins and Giunchigliani also questioned whether the county had the authority to redistrict outside of a census year.

Reid said he will move to have the redistricting struck from the Aug. 21 commission agenda, when the county was scheduled to consider an ordinance.