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Secretary of State Dennis Richardson on Wednesday announced the formation of a panel that will examine Oregon's redistricting process.
Redistricting is an obscure but extremely important process that takes place every ten years, after the completion of the U.S. Census. It involves redrawing the boundaries of congressional and legislative districts. The responsibility falls first to the Legislature and, if lawmakers cannot agree, defaults to the secretary of state, Oregon's top elections official.
Richardson, a retired trial lawyer and state representative from Central Point, became the first Republican to win statewide election in Oregon in 14 years when he defeated Labor Commissioner Brad Avakian last November.
He's taking an early look a process that is not scheduled to begin in earnest until the 2020 census is complete, and may never get to his office, if lawmakers agree on boundaries first.
However Richardson this week announced he's pulling together a group that will begin considering the next re-draw and will examine the possibility of developing a ballot measure that could propose a different way to draw the lines.
Republicans have long grumbled that the boundaries the Legislature drew in 2011 favored Democrats by maximizing the number of majority-Democratic districts.
Richardson gives a nod to such concerns by calling his panel the "Fair Redistricting Task Force."
Rick Osborne, a spokesman for the Senate Democrats says there's nothing wrong with or unfair about the redistricting process in place now.
"The 2011 redistricting shows that the process works and citizens can have a substantial voice in how we do redistricting," Osborne says.
And not everybody thinks the panel Richardson's put together looks fair.
The group he named includes state Sen. Tim Knopp (R-Bend), Reps. Jeff Barker (D-Aloha), Julie Parrish (R-West Linn), Knute Buehler (R-Bend) and Dallas Heard (R-Roseburg) along with Independent Party leader Sal Peralta, Progressive Party leader Dan Meek and Pacific Green Party leader Seth Woolley.
The panel does not represent the makeup of the Legislature: Democrats control the Senate 17-13 and the House 35-25. And except for Parrish, all the members of the panel are men. Peralta, who is Hispanic, is the group's lone minority member, and Barker is the only Democratic elected official in the group.
Scott Moore, a spokesman for the House Democrats ,says House Majority Leader Jennifer Williamson (D-Portland) only learned of the panel on Tuesday in a brief meeting with Richardson. "The caucus didn't receive any formal invitation to participate," Moore says.
Richardson's spokesman, Michael Calcagno, says nobody was excluded. He also notes that former Secretary of State Phil Keisling, a Democrat, is advising the panel and the League of Women Voters will be represented.
"We've extended invites to all major and minor parties," Calcagno adds.
The task force will meet every Wednesday at 5 pm in the Capitol during February and March. Video of the meetings will be available on the Legislature's website.