Anchorage Assembly unanimously advances proposed new redistricting map

The Anchorage Assembly is moving ahead with one of four proposed new political maps as it undergoes a process that will change the boundaries of election districts.

The Assembly came to a consensus during a meeting Tuesday, landing on one of the four remaining proposals of a dozen that have been considered. Members voted to set aside three maps, moving ahead with a map drafted by Assembly member John Weddleton and Denny Wells, a member of the public.

Many Assembly members and Anchorage residents who have testified during the process have said they see the Weddleton-Wells map as the proposal offering the fairest approach in terms of compromise, keeping communities relatively intact.

Reapportionment is a process that redraws the Assembly’s district boundaries, usually every 10 years after the U.S. census is complete. It’s intended to help equalize representation of Anchorage residents on the Assembly as the population changes. This year, a 12th Assembly seat will also be added because in 2020, voters approved giving District 1, downtown, a second elected seat.

The reapportionment process is not over yet. The Assembly will hold a public hearing March 15 to give community councils and residents time to review and comment on proposed changes to the map. The Assembly likely won’t vote to institute the new district map until the end of the month.

Reapportionment won’t be complete before ballots are mailed out in the upcoming April regular election, so it won’t affect the 2022 municipal election.

Members of the public have been heavily involved in the process, with local political organizations and residents like Wells submitting their own suggested boundary maps. Wells, a local freelance photographer, submitted three maps before working with Weddleton on a map revision, incorporating public feedback to come up with the map draft that the Assembly chose Tuesday.

During a short discussion ahead of the vote, Assembly members acknowledged that each of the four maps came with tradeoffs. Because District 1 is expanding, essentially doubling in size, all other districts must shrink, some losing chunks and neighborhoods. (District 1 currently has only one Assembly representative because it is has about half the population of the other districts.)

“I recognize that these are difficult questions ... in terms of coming up with a map that is fair, and also reflects something that most everyone in the community is happy with,” Assembly Chair Suzanne LaFrance said during the meeting.

The Assembly still has time to fine-tune the map “so that hopefully we can get to a place where most everybody feels satisfied and comfortable with the product,” she said.

The Weddleton-Wells map expands District 1 south and east, into the current boundaries of Midtown, West Anchorage and East Anchorage. The district would be bordered by Northern Lights Boulevard to its southeast portion, expanding south to East 36th Avenue between Minnesota Drive and C Street. It would also grow east all the way to Boniface Parkway and DeBarr Road.

Though District 5, East Anchorage, would lose a large chunk of its western portion, a northern section of the Muldoon Road area that is currently grouped with Eagle River in District 2 would be returned to District 5. (The current pairing had been called unfair by many because Muldoon and Eagle River are distinctly different.)

West Anchorage would push south to West Klatt Road and C Street, with its boundaries at Minnesota Drive and East Dimond Boulevard. South Anchorage would expand slightly north to East Dimond Boulevard, in the area directly east of C Street. Girdwood would remain part of District 6, South Anchorage.

Though many have settled on the Weddleton-Wells map as the best option, it has drawn complaints.

Members of the Turnagain Community Council testified, imploring the Assembly to alter the map because it shifts part of Turnagain, which is now in District 3, into District 1.

The community council would then have split representation by four Assembly members, said Anna Brawley, Turnagain Community Council president. It also means West Anchorage High School and Romig Middle School would become part of District 1, she said. Still, the Weddleton-Wells map is generally supported by the council, she said.

A different map would have grouped part of the East Hillside and Basher neighborhoods with District 2, Eagle River/Chugiak. Authored by Anchorage resident Robert Hockema, that proposal elicited vehement opposition from many Hillside and Basher residents, who said that there is no direct road access to Eagle River. Many said that the needs and issues facing each community are vastly different.

Hockema, speaking at Tuesday’s meeting, said that without conjoining Hillside and Basher with District 2, another part of the municipality, the Eagle River/Chugiak district’s population would be smaller than other districts by about 1,400 people.

“This blatantly violates the principle of one person, one vote. It gives District 2 a structural advantage in elections,” Hockema said.

Assembly members acknowledged the issue but proceeded with the Weddleton-Wells map that leaves District 2 largely as is.

“I’ve really been thinking about it, but I don’t know what the fix is that would be accepted by our community and I think that’s a really tough spot to be in,” said Assembly member Meg Zaletel.

Assembly member Jamie Allard, who represents District 2, said it’s a legitimate concern but that there is “not a lot we can do with it.”

The Weddleton-Wells map is one of more than a half-dozen that Wells drafted. Wells lives in Sand Lake, and the first few drafts proposed by a company the Assembly hired to help with the reapportionment process split off his neighborhood from West Anchorage into South Anchorage, District 6. That didn’t seem right, Wells said.

Wells, who had learned a bit about computer mapping back when he worked for the 2000 U.S. census, submitted two initial map drafts of his own and ended up participating in public meetings and town halls held by the Assembly’s reapportionment committee. That’s where he met Weddleton, who he began sending drafts to during the map revision process.

Wells said most of the public feedback he heard at meetings, from Anchorage residents and Assembly members, indicated “a strong desire to keep neighborhoods together that would generally consider themselves to be a common neighborhood.”

“So as much as possible, that’s what all of my drafts did,” Wells said.

Wells specializes in real estate photography. Having shot photos “in every corner of town,” he said he would reflect on the streets, shapes and characteristics of neighborhoods and houses as he drafted maps. Eventually, Weddleton picked one of his drafts and proposed it, Wells said.

Redrawing district boundaries has the potential to shift the city’s political dynamics, impacting who gets elected to the Assembly in the six districts. As some neighborhoods will be moved into different districts, the political leanings of their populations could change the outcome of elections.

Some sitting Assembly members who live near the edge of their current district could find themselves living in an entirely different district once the process is complete. If that happens, it’s possible that member would have to run against another sitting Assembly member for a seat in their new district.

The addition of a 12th seat to downtown, a heavily left-leaning district, could also enhance the Assembly’s veto power over Anchorage’s conservative mayor.