Linn Redistricting Struggle Leaves a Bad Taste

Linn County should send Iowa Secretary of State Matt Schultz and Polk County Democrats a big box of doughnuts.

The gift of pastry would commemorate the massive doughnut-shaped Board of Supervisors district that will exist in Linn County after next year's election. Schultz and Polk County deserve all the credit. Enjoy.

Schultz's office rejected Polk County's supervisor map, which throws two Republicans into one district. Republicans insist the map is gerrymandered. Ethics complaints have been filled. Schultz, a Republican, rode swiftly to the rescue.

Maybe you side with the shifty Dems, or perhaps the outraged GOP. Or maybe you're like me and would like to see the whole affair moved to the deck of a ship of fools and pushed into the strongest outbound current.

But unfortunately, Linn County is caught in the crossfire.

Schultz, likely trying to mask the odor of politics surrounding the Polk County fight, also rejected Linn County's sensible bipartisan map using the same legal rationale he's deploying against the Polkies. See, it's not about politics, it's about law. The only flaw in his plan is that most folks following this saga weren't born yesterday afternoon.

Linn's failed map had four sensibly sized rural/urban districts taking in parts of Cedar Rapids and one Marion-centered district. Schultz's staff says dividing Cedar Rapids four ways violates a very thin line in the Iowa Code that says political subdivisions, if divided, shall be split into the fewest pieces “possible.” So Schultz says our map must have three urban Cedar Rapids districts, one Marion district and one huge doughnut covering the rest of the county.

Fixating on division means pretty much ignoring the fact that the code also says districts should be “as compact as practicable.” The original Linn map, supported by both parties, strikes a nice balance between “possible” and compactness. It's impossible to argue our bloated doughnut is in any way compact.

But Linn supervisors are stuck. Fight Schultz in court, and the county risks getting a map that looks even worse, with legal fees to boot. So now they'll draw their own with hopes of tweaking Schultz's doughnut a little here and there to make it somewhat easier to swallow for the next decade. Good luck.

It's a funny thing about politicians who believe so deeply in local control and small, hands-off government - like the governor who wants to dictate the terms of every local contract on public projects or the secretary of state that wants to draw our supervisor districts. Pictures of conservative restraint, these guys.

Maybe some good will come of it. Supervisor Brent Oleson, a Republican, wants the Legislature to take a look at redistricting standards. He'd also like to make county offices in Iowa non-partisan, which could make all this political jockeying as dated and stale as the lousy month-old doughnuts we're sending.