Deschutes County districting sparks claims of gerrymandering

On Wednesday morning, people nearly filled a boardroom to hear Deschutes County commissioners discuss a proposed map that would divide the county into five voting districts. Some held yellow signs calling the map “rigged.”

But commissioners didn’t let people in the crowd speak to them directly. Commissioner Phil Chang called for a public comment period, and his fellow commissioners Tony DeBone and Patti Adair blocked that.

Both longtime Republicans, they’ve been champions of a districting process that’s drawn criticism from local residents and from Chang, a Democrat.

At the meeting, DeBone accused Chang of “whipping people into a frenzy.”

“I’m not whipping people into a frenzy,” Chang replied, “I’m asking for people … who made the effort to be here because they’re interested in this item to have a chance to say something.”

Related: Deschutes County reviews a map that could change future elections

The proposed map could shape the future of decision-making and political power in this politically diverse county, where Democratic voters slightly outnumber Republicans overall.

There are even more non-affiliated voters. The proposed map would consolidate most of Bend, the bluest and most populated part of the county, into two districts, while making three districts for less-populated areas in and around Redmond, Sisters and La Pine, where voters tend to be more conservative.

Critics say these boundary lines will favor Republicans, despite the party’s thinning ranks countywide.

After nearly two and haIf hours of heated discussion on Wednesday, commissioners chose to hold a public hearing before voting on whether to put the map on the May ballot.

Last year, voters decided to increase the size of the county commission from three to five seats. The commission’s Dec. 3 meeting was the next step in the effort to create representative districts for those elected positions, which are currently at-large.

Commission seats became nonpartisan through a 2022 ballot measure, but the board has had a Republican majority for at least a decade.

Chang said in an interview he won’t be voting in favor of the proposed district map, which he called “gerrymandered.” He said it would likely lead to a continued Republican majority on the board, despite the party representing a minority of registered voters in the county.

In July, the commission appointed a District Mapping Advisory Committee and instructed it to create five representative districts with no at-large districts. The mapping committee narrowly approved the final map on Nov. 12 by a 4-3 vote.

DeBone said in an interview that it would be good to have five representative districts, both for simplicity and for smaller Central Oregon communities such as La Pine and Sisters to have dedicated representation.

Related: Concerned Deschutes County residents cry foul on district mapping project

George Endicott, a former mayor of Redmond, told the county committee in an email that the proposed map seemed to be a “fair and equitable representation of what we need in the county to represent the residents.”

A group of residents from Sisters and Bend recently protested the mapping process and the push to create districts.

Pete Shepherd, who lives in Sisters, wrote in a public comment that the effort to “disintegrate our community into five fragments” divides rather than unites the county.

If voters ultimately approve a map, Deschutes County Clerk Steve Dennison said the change would take effect as early as the 2028 election cycle.

Almost all Oregon counties that are currently represented by five commissioners have districts, according to the Association of Oregon Counties.

Deschutes County staff have not yet set a date for the public hearing.