Splitting Havre, splitting counties top issues at apportionment meeting

A commission listened to people from a packed house during a districting and apportionment hearing in Havre Tuesday. One group supporting one plan proposed by the commission and most of the rest supporting virtually anything else.

The Districting and Apportionment Commission tasked with drawing new state legislative boundaries met at Havre City Hall, with the city court and council chambers near standing-room-only for more than an hour as people testified.

A key issue at the hearing, basically set on party lines, was whether Havre should be set as a single legislative district or its population split and shared with districts in the region. A corollary was whether counties neighboring Hill should be grouped with Havre, or divided into their own legislative districts.

Representatives of Rocky Boy's and Fort Belknap Indian reservations made a plea to keep the Indian reservations grouped together in districts to give them a voice in Helena.

The commission is appointed every 10 years to adjust boundary lines to match population shifts discovered through the U. S. Census, drawing boundaries for 100 House districts with an ideal population of 9,894 people in this session and pairing the House districts into 50 Senate districts with an ideal population of 19,788.

The meeting was chaired by commission member Jon Bennion and attended by commission members Joe Lamson and Pat Smith.

Bennion said commission chair Jim Regnier and member Jim Peterson could not attend due to family and medical issues but would closely read the transcripts of people's comments.

Bennion said at the end of the meeting that many boundaries could change significantly before the plan is presented to the Montana Legislature next year for recommendations and the commission then makes its final decision.

"If you didn't like any map, that's OK, because we're not going to rubber stamp any of them, " Bennion said. "We're going to take everything that you say and try to get the best map possible for Montana.

"It's hard to satisfy every person and every interest, but we do the best that we can, " Bennion said.

Lamson said part of the procedure is dealing with a relative population decline in eastern Montana. The region from Liberty County to the North Dakota border will have one fewer House district, so the remaining districts will have to be bigger, he said.

Andrew Brekke, president of the Havre City Council and chair of the Hill County Republican Central Committee, said one of his main desires is to see Havre united into one district.

"I don't subscribe to any particular proposal. I believe in one person one vote and keeping communities intact, " Brekke said, adding that Havre by itself is close to the ideal population for a House district.

Brekke said that urban communities and rural communities have different needs and interests, and said that political lines and subdivisions exist for a reason.

"I think they should be respected when at all possible, so I support keeping Havre intact into a district if we could do so, " he said.

Brekke's counterpart, Hill County Democratic Party Chair John Musgrove, said that has never been the case.

"This is the third redistricting that I have gone through, and it seems to me that each of them gets more contentious as you move forward in time …, " Musgrove said. "I'm not aware that Havre ever has been unified. It's always been split. "

He said splitting Havre best meets the goals of the commission, and said he supports the Communities Plan map presented by state Democrats.

"I'm firmly committed to having Havre being split so we can keep the districts smaller throughout the area, " Musgrove said.

Numerous speakers said they oppose having counties east of Hill split north and south, saying it divides people with common interests and puts them with an urban center — Havre — without common interests.

Phillips County Commissioner Richard Dunbar said he doesn't support any of the proposals, and referred the commissioners to a map from a previous districting and apportionment.

"I wish you'd take a good hard look at it because it keeps the communities more intact that we're involved with, " he said.

Several spoke with similar comments, including Brad Lotton of Havre, who also spoke in favor of Havre being a single House district; and Kathy Sangrey of Havre; Blaine County Republican Chair Richard Cronk; Republican Senate candidate Don Richman of Harlem; Blaine County residents Dustin Hofeldt and Vicki Hofeldt, Julie Warburton of Havre, and Vicki Olson of Phillips County.

"My representation has not been my representation, as I would say, for quite some time, " Olson said.

Rep. Kris. Hansen, R-Havre, spoke for herself and Rep. Wendy Warburton, R-Havre, who could not attend, saying that splitting the counties creates a problem.

"Blaine County does appear to have substantial amount of population not lumped in with rest of Blaine County, " she said, with Richman also confirming that Warburton opposes splitting the counties.

But others said the counties east and west of Hill do have a community of interest with Havre.

Bonnie Parenteau, a Democrat who sits on the Havre City Council, said the town is a community hub, with people coming here from miles away for medical services, shopping and entertainment, and includes both rural and urban interests.

"We're uniquely both, " she said. "Havre's uniquely both. "

Arlo Skari and Patricia Seidlitz of Chester and Rose Campbell who lives near Whitlash, made similar comments, saying they consider Havre and Hill County part of their community.

Others speaking in favor of the Community Plan included Hill County commissioners Mike Wendland and Kathy Bessette, who also read a letter from Senate candidate Greg Jergeson, a Democrat who wrote in favor of the plan; Val Murri; and former Hill County Commissioner and Democratic state Rep. Antoinette "Toni" Hagener.

And several spoke of the need to keep the Indian reservations connected through common House and Senate districts, including Chippewa Cree Tribe's council chair Bruce Sunchild of Rocky Boy, Gerald Stiffarm of Fort Belknap, Sen. Jonathan Windy Boy, D-Box Elder, and Fort Belknap Indian Community Council member Andrew Werk.

Werk said the reservations are communities of interest and need to be kept together.

"Because of these common interests, when issues come up in Helena we're usually united, " he said.

Sunchild applauded the commissions in the past for creating Indian legislative districts and urged the current commission to continue them.

"Our issues may not be resolved or even addressed, but at least they're heard, " he said.

Bennion said comments will be taken through the end of the year, with many coming in via email. Those can be sent to [email protected], or mailed to: Montana Districting and Apportionment Commission, P.O. Box 201706, Helena MT 59260-1706, or faxed to: (406) 444-3036.

Online: http://leg.mt.gov/css/Committees/interim/2011-2012/Districting/default.asp