SPOKANE, Wash. – The last time Spokane did their decennial redistricting, the process ended with a lawsuit and an ethics complaint. Now, Spokane voters will be able to reshape the process to make sure that doesn’t happen again.
“I’ve heard a lot of people tell me they don’t trust the political outcomes, they don’t trust the elections, they don’t trust all these things,” Council Member Michael Cathcart said. “So (we) wanted to just reform the process so people would have trust in the system again.”
Currently, the redistricting commission is made up of three mayoral-appointed volunteers who meet regularly and select a map for Spokane City Council to vote on. In 2022, Council Member Zack Zappone was a non-voting advisor on the board, and submitted his own map, which now lives as Spokane’s map after being chosen by City Council.
“I learned from my own personal experience that it’s better to be more removed as an elected official from this process,” Zappone said in hindsight.
His map drew accusations from some community members and council members, who said the lines were drawn to benefit Zappone in future elections. Zappone has always insisted his maps were drawn for the sole purpose of reuniting neighborhoods previously split between two districts.
In April, a Spokane County Superior Court judge upheld the map, saying it was not gerrymandered, but that Zappone broke the spirit of the law by acting in the manner he did.
“The Superior Court ruling said the charter was uncl;ear about what the process was supposed to be and the involvement of city council members,” Zappone said. “This ballot measure incorporates those changes that I think will make it better and clearer for all involved.”
A citizen also lodged an ethics complaint against both Zappone and now-Council President Betsy Wilkerson for their publicly-revealed texts regarding the redistricting. In December, the ethics commission found Zappone and Wilkerson had not committed any violations.
This new proposal would prevent council members from having any say on the commission except for voting yes or no on the commission’s proposal. If they vote no, they’ll send it back to the commission for work, and if they can never come to an agreement, the map will be chosen by a municipal court judge.
“At the end of the day, you don’t want the fox guarding the hen house,” Cathcart said.
This proposal would also bring the commission from three members to seven. Three would be nominated by city council and three by the mayor. The seventh would be a non-voting chairperson selected by the six already nominated.
Additionally, the measure gives the citizens a power the council has had for years; to call a redistrict early. Right now the map is redrawn every 10 years, with the city council having the option to draw a new one after five. This measure would allow 10 percent of voters in a recent election to also call for a new map drawn five years after the latest one was adopted.
Lastly, the proposal codifies the city’s preferences for how the map should be drawn, including preferences to keep communities together.
“That is really important for overcoming past racial inequities but also making sure our neighborhoods are together and represented well,” Zappone said.
