A6 THE SPOKESMAN • TUESDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2022
“Hopefully whoever
represents us will
actually care and be
concerned about the
voice of Redmond
and northern
Deschutes County.
(I) just don’t know
what that’s going to
look like right now.”
Districts
Continued from A1
“Hopefully whoever rep-
resents us will actually care and
be concerned about the voice
of Redmond and northern De-
schutes County,” Sande said.
“(I) just don’t know what that’s
going to look like right now.”
Steve Curley, the director of
Redmond Economic Develop-
ment Inc., said he, too, wasn’t
sure how the new districts will
impact Redmond businesses.
“Ultimately, it depends on
who’s elected and how well they
work together,” Curley said. “If
they’re not aligned, they’re ob-
viously going to pull against
each other.”
If businesses span both dis-
tricts, Curley said they gen-
erally go to the legislator who
they feel could move the needle
forward in Salem. He said there
could be the chance for in-
creased power in numbers, with
more legislators in Salem repre-
sent Redmond constituencies.
“Now you’ve got potentially
up to four people who can
champion whatever the issue
is,” he said.
He noted that many of the
issues facing Redmond — such
as housing and lack of child
care — are not highly partisan
issues.
THINKING CREATIVELY
Jim Moore, an associate pro-
fessor and director of political
outreach for Pacific University’s
Tom McCall Center for Civic
Engagement, said if districts are
split politically and representa-
tives don’t see eye-to-eye, it can
make things more difficult for a
municipality.
In the case of Redmond,
Vikki Breese-Iverson is ex-
pected to win the more Repub-
lican northern House District
59. In the southern house dis-
trict, which now leans slightly
left, voters will make the choice
in a tight race between Republi-
can Michael Sipe and Democrat
Emerson Levy.
If Levy is elected, Redmond
could be caught between two
political parties in a time of
growing partisanship in Salem.
— Eric Sande, the director of the
Redmond Chamber of Commerce,
Nick Rosenberger/Spokesman
The view looking east down NW Greenwood Avenue in Redmond, where the city splits between two house and two senate districts. House District
59 and Senate District 30 are on the left, House District 53 and Senate District 27 are on the right.
The city, in turn, will have to
walk a tightrope as they appeal
to both sides of the political aisle.
“They’ve got to be strate-
gic. They’ve got to play it well,”
Moore said. “It’s going to take
people thinking creatively.”
Moore said this process of a
city fracturing into multiple dis-
tricts is common for growing
municipalities. With increasing
populations, cities are gradually
split into more districts to keep
a similar number of people in
each.
There is also potential that
the redistricting could offer
more bargaining chips for Red-
mond to play with in Salem
— if the legislators can work
together.
“If the districts are more or
less the same partisan makeup,
then people barely notice,”
Moore said.
NEW CITY GOVERNMENT, NEW
DISTRICTS
All this will take place with
a new mayor and mostly new
State of Oregon map
Redmond will be divided by two senate districts (27 and 30) and two house districts (53 and 59) in 2023.
city council coming to Red-
mond in 2023.
In the mayor’s race, four
are running for the office and
each have their own pathways
towards working with the re-
districting — with each speak-
ing about their plans during a
forum held on Sept. 27 at the
Redmond Senior Center.
Ed Fitch, who is currently
serving as a city councilor and
running for mayor, said build-
ing relationships and coalitions
with regional partners will
be key. He added that finding
funding from Salem or Wash-
ington D.C. is a team project.
“Having a split district is
actually a benefit to the city,”
Fitch said. “We’ll have more
representation in Salem and
that’s a good thing.”
Current city councilor and
mayoral candidate Jay Patrick
said it boils down to relation-
ships, keeping lines of commu-
nication open and getting to
know the legislators.
“Once you do that, then it’s
just about building upon that
and building relationships with
people,” Patrick said.
Ben Schimmoller parlayed
his experience in Salem as leg-
islative director to senator Tim
Knopp, arguing that his famil-
iarity with process will be use-
ful when dealing with the ad-
ditional legislators.
“I can hit the ground run-
ning so we can find that
money for a $70 million in-
frastructure update for water,
sewage treatment, or other
funds that our community will
need,” Schimmoller said.
Mayor candidate Charles
Baer said he’d be available at
Centennial Park at noon every
day, provided there’s no snow
or ice on the ground, to find
common ground.
█
Reporter: nrosenberger@
redmondspokesman.com
Rotary
Club of Redmond
Rotar y Cl ub of Redmond gi ves $40 0 0
to Str oke Awar eness Or egon
Marv Kaplan, Lawnae Hunter Founder SAO,
Toni Metherall ED-SOA; Paul Spain
SAO is a non-profit created by physicians, stroke survivors and
community members, exists to eliminate disability and death
from stroke through awareness of causes, symptoms, treatment,
and through recovery support. The fifth leading cause of death in
Oregon and the greatest source of disability worldwide, stroke is
a medical emergency by striking over 800,000 people nationwide
each year. Stroke Awareness Oregon is making a difference
in stroke outcomes and recovery through these four goals:
To educate about stroke causes, prevention, and treatment options.
To make F.A.S.T. a household safety word.
To support the recovery of stroke survivors and their families.
To do this work in partnership with the medical community,
businesses, and the community.
Be Par t of Rotar y
We are a community service organization of locally concerned residents,
businesspeople, professional and community leaders. Ninety percent of
our annual events benefit the children of Redmond and 10% to Redmond
based non-profit organizations. Rotarians are People of Action.
If you are interested in serving our community and joining Rotary,
contact us at rotaryredmond@gmail.com