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Legislative map puts Atkinson on the outside Bradbury's new plan prompts Bates to move to Ashland By DANI DODGE Secretary of State Bill Bradbury released a final legislative redistricting plan Wednesday that left one Southern Oregon legislator living outside his district and prompted another to move. State Sen. Jason Atkinson, a Jacksonville Republican, lives less than a quarter-mile outside his district. "The secretary of state has gerrymandered me out of my district," said an incredulous Atkinson. "He's got me out of my district by one street. Proposed new districts The new districts that include Jackson or Josephine counties are: House District 2: Rep. Susan Morgan, R-Myrtle Point. District unites cities of Roseburg, North Roseburg, Myrtle Creek, Riddle, Glendale and Canyonville. State Senate District 1: Sen. Bill Fisher, R-Roseburg, represents the district, made up of House District 1 (parts of Curry, Coos and Douglas counties) and House District 2. House District 3: Rep. Carl Wilson, R-Grants Pass. The Josephine County line is the southern, eastern and northern edges of district. House District 4: Rep. Cherryl Walker, R-Murphy. Contains a portion of Medford and communities along Interstate 5 toward Grants Pass. Senate District 2: Sen. Jason Atkinson, R-Jacksonville, represents this district made up of House districts 3 and 4. House District 5: Rep. Alan Bates, D-Ashland. Unites communities of Jacksonville, Ashland, Talent and Phoenix. House District 6: Rep. Rob Patridge, R-Medford. District encompasses the bulk of Medford. Senate District 3: Sen. Lenn Hannon, R-Ashland, represents this district made up of House districts 5 and 6. House District 55: Phil Barnhart, D-Eugene. (Barnhart does not now live within the district.) District stretches from Eagle Point and White City to Prineville, encompassing a large portion of Central Oregon, including all of Crook County. Senate District 28: Sen. Steve Harper, R-Klamath Falls, represents the district made up of House districts 55 and 56, which is most of Klamath County. "I just can't believe a guy would move my house out. That's so mean." Spurred by the impending changes, state Rep. Alan Bates, a Democrat, picked up and left his 40-acre Eagle Point farm for an Ashland townhouse last week. He's renting the Ashland home until the sale goes through. "I'm tired of fixing fences and worrying about rain on the hay," Bates said. "This is something we've been planning on doing and ... might as well do it while the interest rates are down." Redistricting is required every 10 years following a census to reflect changes in population. The job to redistrict the state's legislative boundaries fell to Bradbury, a Democrat, when the state Legislature failed to agree on a plan. He released a draft plan last month, then toured the state getting feedback on it. The new plan makes only slight shifts from the draft plan in Jackson County, although there are bigger changes in the rest of the state. The plan is a huge departure from the districts people have known for 10 years. The new districts keep Medford whole (House District 6) with three other districts reaching from the boundaries of the Medford district. Ashland, Talent, Phoenix and Jacksonville make up District 5. District 4 contains a portion of Medford and communities along Interstate 5 toward Grants Pass. The third district bordering Medford is District 55, a behemoth district that stretches from Eagle Point and White City through Prineville, taking in Crook, Lake and Klamath counties. Many people at a public hearing in Medford had asked Bradbury to keep Eagle Point and White City within a Jackson County district, fearing a loss of representation if the district breached the Cascades. But Bradbury said he had no choice - Central Oregon is so sparsely populated that he needed to pull in more population from this side of the Cascade range to make the districts equal in population. "Basically we did what we could as many places as we could, but the reality was we had to come over the Cascades to make all the districts match in population," Bradbury said. "That's the place where it made the most sense." Atkinson said Republicans will definitely challenge the plan in court. "It's the same partisan plan (as his draft)," Atkinson said. "He's only made face-lift changes. But Bates said he can understand what Bradbury was trying to do. "The problem is Eastern Oregon is losing population," Bates said. "It means somewhere they have to come across the mountains and you can make an argument that the community of interest is that the Eagle Point area is conservative and rural (like Central Oregon) while Ashland is more liberal and urban." But Bates, a doctor, said he doesn't have any interest in trying to represent a district that vast. "I'm sure there are wonderful people in Prineville, but I don't want to take on that kind of district," he said. "I'm a working guy." Bradbury said he was able to meet a few demands of Southern Oregon residents. He "decoupled" Cave Junction from the coast and put it instead with a Josephine County district. He also tried to keep together the unincorporated Applegate watershed area, as well as White City. "These public hearings and opportunities for the public to submit written comment weren't just window dressing - far from it," Bradbury said. "I firmly believe that Oregonians are the best experts on what a redistricting plan should look like. I listened carefully to what Oregonians had to say and I made significant changes to my redistricting plan in response to input." If Bradbury's plan withstands court challenges, it will go into effect Dec. 15. Reach reporter Dani Dodge at 776-4471, or e-mail [email protected] On the Net: Bradbury's final legislative district maps are at www.sos.state.or.us Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.