Commissioner Files Lawsuit Against Proposed Redistricting Plans

When Oakland County Commissioner Shelley Goodman Taub (R-16th District) said last week that Republicans would file suit against she wasn’t joking.

Led by former Sen. Mike Bishop of Clark Hill, Birmingham resident and County Commissioner Potts (R-20th District) David Potts, Troy resident Janice Daniels and Southfield resident Mary Kathryn Decuir filed a petition Monday to the Michigan Court of Appeals against the Oakland County Apportionment Commission, challenging the commission’s proposed plan for redrawing the county's 25 districts.

The five-member Apportionment Commission approved the newly redrawn county districts by a 3-2 vote May 20. Reapportionment is completed following every U.S. Census.

According to the petition, the Apportionment Commission adopted the plan along party lines after deliberating for 34 minutes. The commission’s three Democrats—Prosecutor Jessica Cooper, county Democratic Party Chairman Frank Houston and county Treasurer Andy Meisner—voted for the plan. The two Republicans—county Republican Party Chairman Jim Thienel and county Clerk Bill Bullard—voted against.

The petition outlines several problems with the county’s proposed plan, including:

• The plan violates MCL 46.404, a statute which stipulates “all districts shall be as compact and of as nearly square shape as is practicable, depending on the geography of the county area involved.” Instead, the petition says the adopted plan contains an "avoidably high number of non-compact districts.”
• The plan “unnecessarily divides” communities of interest, including splitting the lower-income sections of Pontiac three ways and combining the more affluent Southfield Township with the lower income areas of Lathrup Village and Southfield.
• The map was “intentionally and systematically designed” to affect a political advantage for county Democrats.
• The map increases the number of minority-majority districts from three to four within the county, which dilutes the voting strength of the county’s African American population.

According to Charlie Spies, attorney for Clark Hill based out of Washington D.C., the Democrats' proposed plan is inexcusable primarily for the political maneuvering behind it.

"In my experience, this case is remarkable for no other reasons then there's a memorandum ... on how to gerrymander," Spies said. "There is no reason to have long, extenuated districts except for political purposes."

Spies is referring to a memorandum in which Apportionment Commission Democrats write that while Michigan statutes prohibit districts from being drawn to political advantage, there is no statute against making those districts "competitive." According to Spies, "competitiveness" eventually becomes a code word for partisan.

Daniels, co-petitioner from Troy, said party politics was the driving force behind her decision to file alongside Potts and Decuir.

"I wasn't going to allow our county to be led by a commission that is focused on partisanship," she said. "It's not fair. It was written by Democrats for Democrats."

For Decuir, a Southfield resident, her concern was with the county's African American population. Under the new plan, the four minority-majority districts (located primarily near Southfield and Pontiac) would have a 51 percent African American majority. A slight population shift, Spies said, would eliminate the minority-majority district and dilute the African vote.

"I'm concerned with the ability of African American to select a representative for our community," Decuir said.

The petition requests that the approved plan be rendered void and the committee should be instructed to adopt a new plan.

Potential changes ahead for West Bloomfield representation

Under the new plan, voters across the county could find themselves with new representation next year.

In Birmingham, Potts could be left defending his seat against fellow Republican incumbent Taub. Under the new boundaries, Birmingham moves from the 20th District into the redrawn 16th District, joining Bloomfield Township and parts of West Bloomfield.

This places Potts and Taub in the same district, pitting them against each other should either of them choose to run in the 2012 election. Marcia Gershenson (D-17th District) also represents West Bloomfield currently and under the new plan.

As a Birmingham resident, Potts would have to run in the 16th District, where he lives, in order to seek re-election. Potts and Taub’s terms end Dec. 31, 2012.

Potts currently represents Birmingham, Bloomfield Hills, parts of Bloomfield Township and parts of Troy. Taub, a Bloomfield Hills resident, represents West Bloomfield Township, Orchard Lake Village and parts of Bloomfield Township. Gershenson, who also hails from Bloomfield Hills, represents Beverly Hills, Franklin, Bingham Farms and parts of West Bloomfield, Bloomfield and the Township of Southfield.

In a statement Tuesday, Potts said the decision was clearly partisan and it was unfortunate two incumbents were placed in the same district.

In addition, Potts, who is currently in this third term, said he's never seen districts look so abstract. Several districts look like horseshoes, he said. "The Waterford district looks like an elephant."

Taub agreed, saying that both her and Potts had other options if they decided not to run against each other, including making a run for the Michigan State House of Representatives. Taub said that although she felt the competition raised could be a good thing, that the results may be unfair and that a lawsuit will be filed by the end of the week.

"I don't think that anyone should be guaranteed re-election. We should be required to earn our way back," Taub said. "I’ve been around for many redistrictings and I don’t ever recall Republicans doing it and putting two Democrats together. I may be wrong, so it is what it is. The two of us are running together unless one of us backs out."

Democrats claim politics didn't play a role

The new districts are also seen by some as giving Democrats—and by extension, Democratic areas such as Pontiac, Southfield and the Woodward corridor communities—an edge in county issues, Spies said.

However according to Meisner, the goal was to make the districts as nonpartisan as possible.

“We were tasked with creating an even apportionment, respecting minority voters and following city and township boundaries as much as possible, and we did a pretty good job of that,” Meisner said.

In addition, the new map creates at least four districts where minorities make up the majority of the population, including districts in Pontiac and Southfield.

“It reflects Oakland County’s growing diversity, not just in terms of African-Americans but in terms of our Asian-American population and the growing number of people coming here from other places, such as India,” Meisner  said.

However, Republicans currently hold a 15-10 advantage on the County Commission, and that advantage could continue even with the new districts, Bullard said.

“It depends upon what kind of election 2012 will be,” he said, noting GOP success in the county in local and national elections in 2010.

In addition, worrying about incumbents and who stays and goes isn't part of the process of redistricting and wasn't a factor for the five-member Apportionment Committee, Meisner said.

“Protecting incumbents is something that wasn’t part of our job,” Meisner said.

The next step, Spies said, will be for the appeals court to form the panel that will hear the petition. However, he said he doesn't expect anything to happen until after the first of July, noting the appeals court could wait until July 6—the deadline for any challenges—in order to consolidate similar challenges from around the state.

Tim Rath contributed to this report.