Reapportionment panel to reconsider 'canoe' districts
By Kevin Dayton
Advertiser Capitol Bureau Chief
The state Reapportionment Commission may redraft its proposed new House and Senate district boundaries to eliminate the most unpopular "canoe" districts. Canoe districts require some lawmakers to represent parts of two or more islands.
The commission next week will also reconsider who can be counted as a state resident and may change the count in a way that would increase the Neighbor Islands' representation at the Legislature.
If the commission changes its approach to both the population count and the canoe districts, it may end up almost starting over in its effort to redraw boundaries for the 51 House districts and 25 Senate districts.
Reapportionment Commissions are appointed every 10 years to redraw the state's political district to equalize the populations in each district, using numbers from the latest Census.
The process is closely watched in political circles because it can have a huge impact on incumbents' political fortunes. Depending on where the lines are drawn, the new boundaries sometimes separate elected officials from their political strongholds or assign them new neighborhoods where the politicians are not well known.
In August the commission gave preliminary approval to new maps that included eight canoe districts.
Lawmakers and others were particularly unhappy with House and Senate districts that combined Lower Puna neighborhoods on the Big Island with East Maui; a House district that combined North Kaua'i with Mokule'ia and Schofield Barracks on O'ahu; and a Senate district that packaged North Kaua'i with Kailua and Waimanalo neighborhoods on O'ahu.
The commission yesterday voted to draft new maps that eliminate those canoe districts, but would continue canoe districts that package Maui with Moloka'i, and Kaua'i with Ni'ihau.
Commission Chairman Wayne Minami said the commissioners weren't happy with the canoe districts from the beginning, and the change was prompted in part by public comment on the districts.
"The public testimony has been very instructive in the feelings, on the issues. The canoe districts were universally disliked," Minami said.
Earlier the commission also decided in a 5-4 vote to count the dependents of non-resident military personnel as "permanent" state residents for the purposes of equalizing the population. Since most of those dependents live on O'ahu, that decision has the practical effect of increasing O'ahu's representation relative to the Neighbor Islands.
That decision also was roundly criticized, especially on the Neighbor Islands, Minami said.
When asked if there had been a shift in the votes, Minami replied, "Yeah, possibly." He declined to elaborate. The commission has scheduled a new vote on the issue for next Thursday.
Reach Kevin Dayton at kdayton@honoluluadvertiser.com
