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JEFFREY S. SOLOCHEKThe effort to simplify the political lines for school and county elected offices keeps running into complications.
BROOKSVILLE - For more than two years, members of the County Commission and School Board have tried to simplify the county's political map by matching their respective district lines.
Such a change, officials have reasoned, would ease some voter confusion, with the added bonus of saving a buck or two when the Elections Office makes its maps.
The effort has been anything but simple, though.
The two governing bodies failed to reach an agreement in 2001, and despite several attempts to set boundaries this year, appear only slightly closer to a deal now. Most recently, the County Commission gave the nod to one map, only to have the School Board take no action.
School Board member Sandra Nicholson objected to the map.
Nicholson said she preferred to keep the northeasternmost line of her district on U.S. 41, and not on U.S. 98 as county planners had proposed. She has submitted a map of her own design to her colleagues for discussion today. "It just matters to some people, and I just think it makes sense," Nicholson said.
When pressed, she acknowledged that part of her motivation was to allow some potential commission candidates to remain in District 3, currently represented by Diane Rowden, rather than being redrawn into District 1, currently served by Betty Whitehouse.
"I have to pay those taxes, and they're my constituents. They've talked to me, and it makes sense to me," Nicholson said. "If it was for my benefit, I wouldn't do it. But since it's for other people, they want to stay in their district for political reasons, and the numbers back it up, I don't think it would hurt anything."
A key to redistricting is having even population in all five districts.
Nicholson would not say which potential candidates she had in mind. Former Commissioner Bobbi Mills, however, said recently that she was one of them.
"I would have liked to stay in District 3," said Mills, who lost her 2000 re-election bid in the Republican primary. "I was thinking about running. ... Either way, it won't give me much heartburn."
Rowden, the Democrat who won Mills' seat, said she did not try to keep Mills out of the district. In fact, she noted that she raised no objections to altering the proposed lines to allow prefiled candidate Mark Cattell to remain in District 3.
"I'm the first one who made concessions for my opponent, and we don't even know if he will be my opponent," Rowden said.
The School Board also allowed prefiled candidate Pat Fagan to remain in his district under the proposed maps.
But both bodies made clear that they did not want to keep changing boundaries for people who might run for office.
"The position that the (commission) took ... was those people who had declared already - we would draw a line in the sand and try to work around those people (only)," Whitehouse said. Otherwise, "How do you draw the lines?"
Even so, Whitehouse said she was willing to look at any suggestions. She previously had indicated her desire to keep the district she shares with Nicholson closer to U.S. 41.
"I just thought it's very easy for me when people ask, "What is your district?' to say, "Everything east of 41,' " Whitehouse said. "But we are elected at-large, so I get calls from people who are not in my district. ... I really don't have a strong feeling either way."
Members of both boards said they would prefer to keep politics out of the redistricting.
"I don't think those are good reasons to start redrawing district lines," School Board member Jim Malcolm said. Moving lines by a few blocks for two declared candidates was "fine, but we can't keep holding this map up for potential candidates, if that is what is happening."
He called the endeavor "immaterial" and called for a quick end to it.
Commissioner Robert Schenck suggested the county's needs, not the desires of politicians, should be the main concern. Still, he noted, politics are inherent in the process and it's hard to avoid them.
Still, with all seats voted on countywide, he wondered what all the fuss is about. So, too, did Whitehouse.
"It's something we focus on," Whitehouse said. "I'm not sure the voters do."
Supervisor of Elections Annie Williams said in an interview that it might be easier for voters to have the same districts for both boards. However, she added, "I can work with anything."
"It's not as big a deal as some people think it is," she said. "It has worked all these years."
- Jeffrey S. Solochek covers education and politics in Hernando County. He can be reached at 352 754-6115 or solochek@sptimes.com