Letter to the Editor: Redistricting process delivers challenges and opportunities

It was frustrating to watch the redistricting process as the New Year’s Day deadline for adopting new legislative maps approached. Now the Redistricting Commission has acted, and Lincoln joins Grant, Kittitas and a sliver of Yakima counties in a new 13th Legislative District.

It would be easy to glumly complain about how the Commission must have worked up from Oregon and down from Canada, and our skinny new district running from Spokane to Snoqualmie was the leftover pieces. It would be easy to question the decision to create a legislative district that spans three congressional districts. It would be easy, but unproductive.

I’ve decided the new 13th District looks a lot like a canoe. If you’ve ever spent much time in canoes, you know they need to be carefully balanced and paddled with coordination. As Chairman of the Lincoln County Republicans, I am committed to starting off the new year with a positive attitude. I’ve already contacted my counterparts in Kittitas and Grant counties to start discussing ways our organizations can build political working relationships to be effective in Olympia.

We share many issues – protecting water rights, managing the pressures on commercial agriculture, and facing the challenges of economically stagnant yet culturally active small towns. Working together we can take this canoe through the rapids.

Sue Lani W. Madsen

Chairman,

Lincoln County Republicans

Edwall