‘Hardest Decision I’ve Had To Make,’ Councilman Bailey Says on Wenatchee Districting

Last week the Wenatchee city council voted 6-1 to move to five districts with two at-large positions for the seven seats on the council. The decision comes after about three years of study into the issue of representation by a committee convened by the council. Some city officials, including Mayor Frank Kuntz, felt the timeline was pushed up after the passage of the Washington State Voting Rights Act earlier this year.

City staff will now begin crafting the implementation plan, including using voter population and demographics to draw the five districts. Another plan called for seven districts, but the council decided five with two at-large positions made more sense for a city the size of Wenatchee.

The voting districts will be in place for the general election in November 2019.

Before approving the ordinance, almost all council members expressed some reservation with districted voting. Councilmember Ruth Esparza was the lone dissenting vote. She told KOHO last week she’s worried about dividing the citizenry and would prefer a plan to ease into districting voting.

Councilmember Jim Bailey said in all his years on the council this was the hardest decision he’s had to make. Bailey joined Dan Langager on the KOHO Morning Show to talk about the pros and cons he sees with voting districts.