'An embarrassment': Calls for fair legislative maps at Zanesville redistricting hearing
ZANESVILLE — Al Zakany lives in a legislative district shaped like the letter "U."
Zakany, one of over a dozen witnesses to give testimony on legislative mapmaking at a two-hour public hearing in Zanesville on Wednesday, said the 20th Ohio Senate district "conveniently" cuts out the similar, neighboring towns of Crooksville and Roseville.
"So this, frankly, as you can see on our maps, is an embarrassment," said Zakany, a Zanesville city council candidate and lifelong resident of the city. "All I and your constituents are asking is a sense of fairness. If you look at our maps, you can understand what we're asking."
The meeting at Ohio University Zanesville was one of 10 hearings across the state held by the Ohio Redistricting Commission. That commission was born from state constitutional amendments that voters passed in 2015 and 2018, which require public input on mapmaking for the legislative districts of the U.S. House of Representatives and the Ohio Legislature.
There are two separate processes for congressional and state legislative districts. Both have rules in place to limit gerrymandering, and both change the way districts were previously drawn by adding the seven-member commission.
Many testimonies called for compact shapes running contrary to the ones like the 20th state senate district, keeping towns and school districts within the same boundaries. Citing research, Reynoldsburg resident Steve Castro said if a straight line can't be drawn between two points in a district, "that's a sign you're separating neighbors. It might be an indication that the district is a little more gerrymandered."
Susan Haas lives just over the western Muskingum County line in Licking County. That leaves her out of a district closest to her neighbors. She lives in a Muskingum County zip code and school district, and said she didn't have a recycling bin within 10 miles of her house until she contacted Licking County government.
"County lines are county lines, but my community is so connected to Muskingum County and so disconnected from the other one, even our local governments realize it," she said.
Steve Kullman, 41-year resident of Muskingum County, said the previous system where legislators had total power over redrawing maps creates "engineered chaos and conflict that turns democracy, courtesy, civility and decency on its head."
"Politicians should not accept gerrymandering as a means to redraw the sidelines because they want to step out of bounds to retain their power," he said. "By creating 'safe' districts, gerrymandering increases partisanship."
John Halaiko, a Pickerington resident and New Lexington City Schools retiree, told the commission he didn't want to see a repeat of the 2011 redistricting process where "the incumbents chose their voters."
"All elected officials must answer this question," he said, "Are we a democracy or not?"
Halaiko also called for transparency in his testimony, saying all decisions about the map should be made in a public setting and that the public gets a chance to review it before it's finalized. State legislators are ultimately the ones who draw the maps, but the commission has the chance to change them.
State Sen. Vernon Sykes, co-chair of the commission, said the 10 meetings being held throughout the state this week were preliminary. More will be held after maps are drawn, he said. Those aren't scheduled yet though.
Commission members Gov. Mike DeWine and Secretary of State Frank LaRose were not at the hearing in Zanesville. Designees stood in for them.
To read testimonies and learn more about how the Ohio Redistricting Commission works, go to redistricting.ohio.gov.
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