Redistricting or reapportionment is the exercise by which new state legislative and congressional district boundaries are redrawn every 10 years after the U.S. census.

In less than four years, another census will be undertaken to determine how many people live in the United States and to take a snapshot of the sociodemographic characteristics of the nation's population.Each of Pennsylvania's 253 state legislators and 18 U.S. representatives are elected from political subdivisions known as districts. By the way, U.S. senators are not elected by district since each state, regardless of size, gets two. Ours are Bob Casey, a Democrat, and Pat Toomey, a Republican who is seeking re-election to a second six-year term this year.The federal government requires that each district should have nearly equal population, known famously as the one person, one vote principle, which goes back to a U.S. Supreme Court decision in 1966. Districts also cannot be drawn to discriminate on the basis of race or ethnicity.If there is any one area that exemplifies the tawdry Andrew Jackson practice of "to the victor goes the spoils" it's in the reapportionment process.The party in control of the state General Assembly generally prevails in drawing the lines, and both parties do their best when they are in control to draw district lines in their favor - a tactic known as gerrymandering.That's why when you look at a map, some districts look like animals, birds or the Incredible Hulk. We pay the price for these shenanigans when we get districts where it is virtually impossible to dislodge the incumbent because of the heavy voter registration imbalance favoring his or her party.It's pretty obvious even to a political novice that it is a blatant conflict of interest for state legislators to have any role in redrawing district lines because they are so heavily invested in the outcome. Not only can they ensure "safe" districts for themselves and their political allies, but they can also "punish" opponents, too.Redistricting in Carbon CountyWe saw an example of that in Carbon County after the 2010 census. Throughout modern history, all of Carbon County was a self-contained legislative district, but the county's population grew between 2000 and 2010 and exceeded the ideal district of 62,573 residents by only about 3,500. The Republicans contended that a small piece of the county had to be lopped off and added to an adjoining district; the Democrats thought otherwise.Common criteria for creating districts are contiguousness, compactness and community of interest. In deciding which part of Carbon to move, the redistricting commission chose the borough of Summit Hill (population 3,034), arguably the most fiercely loyal Democratic enclave in the county. The commission completely ignored the long history of Summit Hill's place among the other Panther Valley communities of Lansford and Nesquehoning.Much more logical moves, according to former state Rep. Keith McCall of Summit Hill, who retired in 2010, was to put Kidder Township and East Side Borough into the legislative district with White Haven in Luzerne County, since the three communities have many similarities, or, he suggested, Banks Township would be an attractive fit with McAdoo in Schuylkill County.Summit Hill singled outSome say Summit Hill was singled out to blunt the heavy Democratic voter registration lead it traditionally has had and also to protect the re-election bid of Doyle Heffley, a Republican who was completing his second term in 2014, when the new redistricting plan went into effect.Heffley had been elected in 2010 after McCall retired. McCall had succeeded his father, Thomas McCall. Between the two, they served a combined 34 years in the State House. Republicans wanted to head off another Summit Hill Democrat from having the seat, and what better way to ensure this from happening than to move the borough into another district under the guise of reapportionment.Some had thought that since McCall and new Republican House Speaker Mike Turzai had had a chilly relationship that Turzai, a member of the reapportionment commission, engineered moving Summit Hill into the Republican-controlled 124th district of Jerry Knowles as a way to punish McCall's hometown.McCall does not believe this is true. He believes it was to head off the potential candidacy of Billy O'Gurek, a member of Summit Hill Borough Council and son of Carbon County Commissioner William O'Gurek, who was considering running against Heffley if Summit Hill stayed in the 122nd District.Billy O'Gurek says while the GOP effort was not necessarily aimed at him, he does believe that it was intended to reduce the impact of the Democratic stronghold in the 122nd District, making for a more favorable political environment for the incumbent Heffley.Summit Hill Borough Council President Michael Kokinda said he had not heard of this scenario, but he said if it were true, it would not surprise him. Kokinda also said the borough has had the support of both Republicans Heffley and Knowles when applying for grants, although he acknowledged that the borough does not seek state help too often.Kokinda, a Democrat, also said he would prefer that Summit Hill be restored to Carbon County after the redistricting following the 2020 census.Going forwardMcCall will be completing his third and final two-year term as a member of the State Gaming Commission at the end of this year. His mission afterward, he said, will be to crusade on behalf of a more just and equitable redistricting outcome.McCall says there are about 1 million more registered Democrats than Republicans in Pennsylvania, but Republicans control both houses of the General Assembly because "they gerrymandered their way to these majorities so the gridlock that we see occurring is because the members don't truly reflect the makeup of the commonwealth's voting population."The way it stands now, the leaders of the majority and minority parties of the state House and Senate choose one member each to sit as part of the reapportionment commission. Not surprisingly, all four of these legislative leaders chose themselves during the 2011-12 commission meetings. The four then decide on a fifth member. If they can't, then the state Supreme Court makes the decision.Citizens commissionWe recommend a nonpartisan citizens commission to handle this important assignment. State Rep. Ted Harhai, a Democrat from western Pennsylvania, has introduced legislation recommending the formation of a citizens' reapportionment commission modeled after one being used in California. We believe all members should be nonpartisan with no political axes to grind.The bill would use an Iowa model to determine how districts are formed. It calls for compact, square districts which do not divide municipalities.The goal would be to have more competitive districts so voters can make change when change is called for. With the state budget impasse now in its ninth month, this is a perfect year for change, but it isn't going to happen. The Harhai bill is languishing in committee until the long-delayed state budget deadlock has ended.In this year's primaries, most incumbents are either unopposed or have minimal opposition. Prospective attractive candidates, who might be inclined to run in more proportionally aligned districts, won't make what they know will be an all but futile challenge.Bruce Frassinelli |

tneditor@tnonline.comEditor's note: Frassinelli is a native of Summit Hill, who is a registered nonpartisan.