This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2011, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
In its Sept. 15 editorial, "District Maps: Senate Plan Needs Revision," the Tribune editorial board made the cardinal error of being distracted by alluring redistricting anecdotes rather than focusing on quantitative metrics gauging the maps they describe.
The editorial rightly highlights the butchering of Tooele County in the "base" Senate map adopted by the Legislature's Redistricting Committee. The editorial rightly notes that the Fair Boundaries Senate map does combine some areas of northwest Salt Lake City with a part of southwest Davis County.
However, the Tribune editorial did not address the objective metrics that we in the Fair Boundaries Coalition have used as fundamental standards for all of the maps we have drawn. Those metrics are: (1) minimum district-level population deviation to preserve one person-one vote; (2) district compactness measured in miles of perimeter; and (3) keeping the most communities of interest intact, measured as minimizing the number of cities and counties split between districts.
Not only did the Tribune editorial neglect to address these metrics, the Fair Boundaries Coalition is the only body that has supplied these metrics when presenting its maps. Fair Boundaries has, nonetheless, calculated these metrics for the "base" maps adopted by the legislative committee as well.
With respect to population deviations, the Fair Boundaries Senate map and the committee's Senate map both come within 0.01 percent of the population when equalized across districts. The Fair Boundaries House map deviates by no more than 0.08 percent of population, whereas the committee's House map deviates by as much as 1.45 percent.
The Fair Boundaries Senate map splits 16 cities compared to 44 cities split by the committee's map. Our Senate map splits eight counties compared to 11 counties split by the committee's map. The Fair Boundaries Senate map contains 5,707 miles of district borders; the committee's map contains 6,146 miles of district borders.
The Fair Boundaries House map splits 27 cities, compared to 66 cities split by the committee's House map. Our House map splits 14 counties compared to 17 counties split by the committee's map. The Fair Boundaries House map contains 8,230 miles of border; the committee's map contains 8,630 miles of border.
Although the Redistricting Committee has not yet presented its congressional district map, we anticipate that, like the Senate and House maps, our congressional map will be superior with respect to our fundamental, objective quantitative metrics.
The Fair Boundaries Coalition calls on the Redistricting Committee to make use of the objective criteria we have used in generating our maps.
Glenn Wright is on the board of the Fair Boundaries Coalition.