Columbus makes Valley voting changes
By DAVID KERESTER and CHRIS GEIDNER
Tribune Chronicle
Sunday, October 14, 2001; Page 1A

Many Trumbull and Mahoning county voters will find themselves with new state representatives as a result of the redistricting plan to take effect in the 2002 elections.

House and Senate districts are redrawn every 10 years using the most recent census data. The Apportionment Board - made up of the governor, secretary of state, state auditor, and one member of each party from the General Assembly - put the final touches on the plan Oct. 4.

The board-approved plan automatically goes into effect without a vote by the General Assembly unless challenged in court, an avenue under consideration by the state Democratic Caucus due to their concerns that some remapped districts violate federal laws by lessening minority representation, an attorney for the Democratic Caucus said Thursday. ''As a practical matter, if we are going to file a court challenge, it will probably be in the next month or so,'' said attorney Chris Long.

The approved plan calls for a major change locally, moving Cortland and parts of Bazetta and Fowler townships from the district currently represented by Anthony Latell, D-Girard, to the district represented by Daniel J. Sferra, D-Warren.

Lordstown, Newton Township and Newton Falls will move from Sferra's district to Latell's in the exchange.

Also, the two northernmost tiers of Trumbull townships - currently represented by Timothy Grendell, R-Chesterland - will find themselves removed from Geauga County's House seat and split between Sferra's district and the current Ashtabula County House district, represented by L. George Distel, D-Conneaut.

Southern Mesopotamia (Precinct B), West Farmington, Farmington, Bristol, Mecca, Johnston and Vernon all will switch to Sferra's district, while northern Mesopotamia (Precinct A), Bloomfield, Greene, Gustavus and Kinsman will be added to Distel's district.

A former Ashtabula County commissioner, Distel's pro-gun, anti-abortion leanings while running on the Democratic ticket helped him win 53 percent of the vote in the last election, despite Ashtabula County's strong support for Republicans in several statewide races.

Grendell's Geauga County district has been remapped to include a small eastern part of Cuyahoga County and no longer includes any Trumbull County voters.

A reapportionment plan abandoned in the final days leading up to Monday's vote would have been challenged in court, said Senate Minority Leader Leigh Herington, D-Ravenna, the lone Democrat on the 5-member reapportionment board.

Herington said the proposed plan, submitted by board secretary Scott Borgemenke, violated the Voting Rights Act and the 15th Amendment to the Constitution, significantly diluting minority voting strength in the state. Herington said, however, that there remain problems with the board's approved plan, and Democrats could still file a lawsuit after a closer review.

State Sen. Timothy J. Ryan, D-Niles, said he believed the board sought to avoid lawsuits and correct a few oversights by approving the alternative plan.

One of those oversights involved Rep. John Boccieri, D-New Middletown, who would have been mapped out of the district he represents and into the district of Sylvester D. Patton, D-Youngstown, had the earlier plan been approved.

''I was little bit concerned when I saw the (Borgemenke) plan,'' Boccieri said.

''Quite frankly, it couldn't have come at a worse time. I am waiting for word that I will be called upon to serve my country,'' said Boccieri, a member of the Air Force Reserve.

Ryan said one of the reasons Republicans put Boccieri back in his own district was a fear that Boccieri would choose to relocate in Columbiana County and challenge that district's current representative, Charles Blasdel, R-East Liverpool.

''That was certainly one of maybe three options I was considering,'' Boccieri said.

Boccieri will retain Carroll County along with the southern portions of Mahoning County and an eastern portion of Stark County, while adding a slice of Tuscarawas County.

Because New Middletown, where Boccieri lives, had to be moved back to his current district, other changes had to be made to surrounding districts to meet requirements that each district contain roughly the same number of people.

As a result, Struthers, which the Apportionment Board had planned to include in Kenneth Carano's district, will remain in the district represented by Sylvester Patton, D-Youngstown.

Canfield Township, currently split between Boccieri and Carano's districts, will fall entirely within the district represented by Carano, D-Austintown. Youngstown's Fourth Ward and several northeast precincts in Austintown will move from Carano's district to Patton's.

Also in Mahoning County, Berlin, Canfield, Craig Beach, Ellsworth, Jackson and Milton move out of Boccieri's district to Carano's redrawn district.

Each state Senate seat is made up of three House districts. While the Senate district represented by Robert Hagan, D-Youngstown, will not see any substantial changes - save the addition of the eastern sliver of Tuscarawas County, Ryan's district will look quite different.

The 32nd Senate district, currently comprised of largely Democratic Trumbull County and the lesser populated, but strongly Republican-voting Geauga County, is to change as dramatically as any in the state. Gone will be Geauga, which will be swapped for the more politically competitive Ashtabula County. The result for Ryan is a more Democratic district, Ryan said.

''I'm excited about it. I think the constituency is in line with my views and with Democratic principles,'' Ryan said. ''(Republicans) enjoy a nine-seat lead in the Senate and a 19-seat majority in the House, and they realigned the districts so that they could be sure that they would hold them.''

Geauga County is to be paired with Lake County to form the 18th Senate District, currently held by Robert Gardner, R-Madison. The two counties provide a stronger Republican voting base than the district currently has consisting of Lake and Ashtabula counties.

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