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Shady Cove fights against redistricting plan By MELISSA MARTIN SHADY COVE - Not wanting to be lumped with a high desert town that's a mountain range away, Shady Cove plans to challenge the secretary of state's redistricting plan. The city will file a petition with the Oregon Supreme Court seeking the creation of a new map so Shady Cove can stay within the Rogue Valley's legislative boundaries. "We want an explanation as to how anyone could possibly imagine that cities like Shady Cove and Eagle Point would have anything in common with Prineville or Chiloquin," said Shady Cove Mayor Tom Anderson. The new District 55 would stretch from the Highway 62 communities of White City, Eagle Point, Shady Cove and Prospect to towns in Crook, Lake and Klamath counties. "Just because we are a small community, we should not be treated like second-class citizens," Anderson wrote in a letter to Secretary of State Bill Bradbury. The Supreme Court will decide whether to consider or dismiss the petition, said Marion Hammond, a spokeswoman for Bradbury. If the Supreme Court agrees with Shady Cove's arguments, the justices can ask Bradbury to re-draw the map, or they can dismiss the challenge and let the map go into effect Oct. 15 as is. Bradbury said last week that he had no choice in pulling towns west of the Cascades together with towns in sparsely-populated Central Oregon to make the districts equal in population. "He carefully considered public testimony, the constitutional and statuary criteria in drafting this plan and is still very confident it's a legal plan," Hammond said. "It's up to courts to decide the specific issues that are brought forward." Shady Cove is not the only city to challenge the plan. Sheridan leaders are protesting an error in U.S. Census data that shifted 1,200 people from one district to another because a prison was misplaced on a census map. Hammond said her office is working to correct the error. A similar case could be made in Eagle Point, according to Councilman Garey Walruff. The city's population is about 2,000 more than the U.S. Census shows. "If the redistricting is based on census data and the census was not accurate, how can the redistricting plan be correct?" he asked. The Eagle Point City Council will discuss on Tuesday whether to join Shady Cove's legal challenge, said Mayor Jim Goan. "What have we got in common with people on the other side of the mountain? We're in the valley," Goan said. "It looks like they are taking some voting power away from us." Redistricting is required every 10 years following a census to reflect changes in population. The job to re-draw the state's legislative boundaries fell to Bradbury, a Democrat, when the state Legislature's plan was vetoed by Gov. John Kitzhaber. Bradbury released a plan in July, held public hearings around the state and issued a new plan last week. "I think the whole process was a smoke screen," said Shady Cove's Anderson. "When we protested, Bradbury said we didn't provide testimony in a timely manner, and we did." Shady Cove City Administrator Elise Smurzynski wrote the petition challenging the new map. It will be reviewed by the city attorney Monday and submitted to the Oregon Supreme Court later in the week. "We hope there might be other people who want to join us so we can have a greater impact," Anderson said. Shady Cove's representative now is Susan Morgan, a Republican from Myrtle Point. If the new plan is approved, because of Bradbury's reassignment of legislators, the 2,315 residents of this town on the Rogue River would be represented by Phil Barnhart, a Democrat from Eugene. Shady Cove is involved in regional planning with the Rogue Valley Council of Governments, with tourism promotions sponsored by the Southern Oregon Visitors Association and with emergency dispatch services provided by Southern Oregon Regional Communications, to name a few of the ways the town is connected with its region, Anderson said. "Shady Cove's interests lie with the Rogue Valley," he said. "All of our employment is in the Rogue Valley, our social and cultural interaction and our economic base." Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.