Redistricting board moves its office to Anchorage

Pat Forgey
Juneau Empire
September 14, 2010

The Alaska Redistricting Board, which oversees drawing lines for state's house districts after each census, will this year have its offices located in Anchorage. They had previously been in Juneau.

The decision to meet in Anchorage was not made by the constitutionally mandated board, but instead by a group of temporary staff assigned to begin organizing for the redistricting process.

Juneau Mayor Bruce Botelho criticized the decision.

"I'm disappointed that the decision was made to have the board sit in Anchorage, or at least have its offices in Anchorage, and more so because it was not made by the constitutionally designated board," he said.

The five-member Redistricting Commission is made up of Chairman John Torgerson of Soldotna, Vice Chairman Al Clough of Juneau, Bob Brodie of Kodiak, Jim Holm of Fairbanks and Marie Greene of Kotzebue.

After the U.S. Census Bureau releases the results of the 2010 census early next year, the board will spend 30 days drafting a preliminary plan for how the district boundaries that make up the state's House of Representatives and Senate districts should be drawn.

Then, following 60 days of public hearings, it will issue a final plan.

The decision on where the board's offices would be located had to be done by staff, said Doug Wooliver, an administrative attorney with the Alaska Court System who sat on the interim board made up of staff members.

That interim board earlier voted 3-2 to locate the offices in Anchorage, he said.

"That's one of the decisions made by the planning committee, and not the board," Wooliver said. "If the board makes it, it happens too late in the process."

At a meeting of the board in Anchorage Monday, Wooliver said space has already been selected in Anchorage.

Botelho questioned whether that was true.

"It's not clear to me why there would be difficulty in securing space after the board actually convened," Botelho said. "I find the explanation implausible."

Wooliver said those supporting the board meeting in Anchorage were himself, Ron Miller and Margaret Paton-Walsh. Voting for Juneau were Linda Hay and Brynn Keith.

The three who voted for Anchorage are all based there; Hay and Keith are both from Juneau.

Wooliver said a more centralized location was more convenient. Ten years ago the board met in Juneau to be closer to state Department of Labor and Workforce Development staff who were providing technical assistance, he said.

The first impact of the office location may already be evident in its selection of Torgerson as its chairman. Members of the board said he was picked because he was closet to the office location. Clough was selected as vice-chairman because he was closest to the office of the governor, which provides administrative support for the board.

Next on the board's agenda is hiring an executive director and planning for hiring legal counsel. Those experienced in redistricting say lawsuits can be expected, no matter what the board's final maps show.