Ah, redistricting.

Some people can't live with it, when political boundaries change. Nobody can't live without it. After all, it's the law.

However mundane to many, it still carries far-reaching impact on the political landscape.

State Sen. Kenric Scheevel (R-Preston) said it was enough of a reason to leave the Minnesota Legislature to be Brian Sullivan's running mate in the race for governor.

Who knows how many Austin residents, planning to run for a seat on the Mower County Board, found themselves moved from one commissioner district to another by the city's new plan?

The possibilities that exist in redistricting are endless.

One can imagine four "city commissioner" districts within the city of Austin, where

the majority of the population lives in Mower County.

That would not please eastern county residents, who already believe they live in "Austin County" instead of Mower County.

Richard P. Cummings, 1st District Mower County Commissioner, is the senior member of the county board. Cummings is in his 26th year of public service as a county commissioner.

"Whether it's fair or not depends upon your point of view," Cummings said of redistricting.

No matter how hard city and county officials try to be fair, the fact remains, the only fair comes once a year in August.

Despite its best intentions to be all things to all people, redistricting cannot please everyone.

Population figures

Mower County's population is 38,603, according to the 2000 census.

With five county commissioner districts, the average population per commissioner district is 7,721.

The 1st, 2nd and 3rd commissioner districts include portions of the city of Austin and rural areas. The 4th and 5th commissioner districts are located exclusively within the city limits of Austin.

The city of Austin dominates the make-up of four of five commissioner districts.

Ward 1, precinct 1 of the 1st District has 3,750 of the district's

7,734 residents.

Ward 2, precinct 2, of the 2nd District has 3,906 of the district's

7,617 residents.

In the 4th District, the city's Ward 3, precincts 1 and 2, comprise all of the district's 7,743 residents.

In the 5th District, the city's Ward 1, precincts 1 and 2, comprise all of the district's 6,915 residents.

With 100 percent of two commissioner district's residents and nearly 50 percent of two others, is it any wonder Patrick McGarvey thinks Austin should have four seats on the Mower County Board?

Months-long process

When the Mower County Board members review the proposed redistricting plan at a public hearing Tuesday, it will be the culmination of months-long work.

Mower County Auditor Woody Vereide and his staff have been crunching numbers. Daryl W. Franklin, county planner and zoning administrator, has joined the effort.

On the city's side, Lucy Johnson, Austin city clerk, has led the pain-staking process to redraw ward/precinct lines if necessary. Craig Hoium, city planning director, has assisted Johnson.

With the Austin City Council's approval and resolutions from all other municipalities and townships in the county, a county plan is ready for review.

There are no changes to voting precincts anywhere but the city of Austin.

"We must come within 5 percent of the population total for each city ward," said Johnson. "The goal is always to affect the least amount of people. I think only 1,055 people were impacted by the city's new plan and out of a population of 23,314, that's really not a large number."

There are notable exceptions.

Dick Chaffee, Austin's Council Member At-Large, found himself moved from the city's 2nd Ward to the 1st Ward by the new plan.

The west side growth of the city saw the dividing line shift for the first time from Oakland Avenue West 16 blocks.

Johnson said the changes could have been more dramatic if the new population centers such as Chauncey Apartments, Whittier Place, Murphy Creek and elsewhere on the west side were used. "Only the year 2000 census figures could be used for the redistricting." she said.

"Really," Johnson said, "there were no surprises. The city is growing to the west. The council approved a plan that will work well for the city."

Democracy at work

Franklin, whose county planner input was essential to the Mower County plan, said redistricting is a satisfying exercise in democracy.

"Under the U.S. Constitution, every 10 years the country does a census to determine representation in the U.S. House of Representatives," he said.

"Then, states do their own redistricting according to the population figures. Then, state House and Senate districts are redrawn and lastly city or county governments do their own redistricting," he said.

Senior county board member Cummings went through redistricting plans in 1980 and 1990.

Cummings emphasized as far as the county's efforts go, "the commissioner districts need to be contiguous. They can't be split."

"Redistricting gives us the opportunity to balance things as equally as the census will allow us," he said.