RE-MAP PLAN MAY BE NEAR; PROPOSAL PUTS 2 IN SAME DISTRICT

State Reps. Dennis Ziegenhorn and Ollie Amick will share the same Missouri House district under a plan agreed to by two members of the House Redistricting Commission from the 8th Congressional District.

John Lichtenegger of Jackson, the Republican member of the commission, and Mel Weems of Bonne Terre, the Democratic member, have been working together to finalize a map in this part of the state based on 1990 census figures.

Lichtenegger and Weems met together in Jefferson City Thursday at a commission meeting, and since have been talking by phone and with Office of Administration staff to finalize the map.

Their map also keeps two representative districts primarily within the boundaries of Cape Girardeau County and maintains a district made up of Perry County and most of Ste. Genevieve County.

The full commission has another meeting scheduled for Tuesday in Kansas City, when a final map for the entire state could be approved.

Lichtenegger said, "Both Mel and I did try to work on a plan that would have had a district that Mr. Amick resided in, but due to other geographic problems we were unable to come up with one."

He said attempts to have two Scott County districts was not just for the benefit of Amick, but to recognize that the growth in Scott County has been at its extreme ends of Sikeston and Scott City.

Presently, Ziegenhorn, of Sikeston, has a district that includes most of the city of Sikeston, the Oran-Morley area, and the Advance-Bell City area of Stoddard County. Amick, of Scott City, now has most of Mississippi County and North Scott County in his district.

Heavy population losses in the Bootheel have forced the consolidation of Amick's district with Ziegenhorn's. Lichtenegger explained that the commission must start at the Arkansas line and Mississippi River and work toward the middle of the state in drawing lines.

"Keep in mind that the plan Mr. Weems and I are working on is based on plans submitted by the Republican and Democratic parties, and the geographic configurations are extremely difficult when dealing with population losses in the Bootheel," said Lichtenegger. "It is kind of ironic that the burden of population losses is shifted to where the population losses did not occur. The whole process does have a tendency to protect areas around a state boundary and the river."

The map shifts Mississippi County to the district of Rep. Gene Copeland, D-New Madrid. The parts of Stoddard County now served by Ziegenhorn, and western Scott County served by both Ziegenhorn and Amick, are shifted to the district of Rep. Marilyn Williams, D-Dudley.

As part of the overall process, commissioners from each congressional district have been working together to resolve problems and help draft the overall map that must be approved by 14 of the 18 commissioners to take effect.

"We were able to come to agreement on just about every aspect of the 8th District," said Lichtenegger. "Mel Weems and I will have an agreement. We have had no disagreements so far; it is just that the task is difficult when you are dealing with all these numbers."

Lichtenegger said he and Weems tried to draw "reasonable and compact districts" and took county lines into consideration more than individual cities.

He said both have tried to work together in a positive way to complete the redistricting task.

A perfect district size is 31,393 people, and Lichtenegger said an attempt is being made to bring all districts within 2 percent of that population.

There were still some problems in the 8th District being worked out over the weekend, which Democrats are trying to resolve, said Lichtenegger. The final district of Rep. Joe Driskill, D-Doniphan, is still being worked out, and there is another potential problem area in Washington and Crawford counties.

"The Democrats don't want another Amick-Ziegenhorn situation in Southeast Missouri if they can avoid it, and I have given my consent to them drawing it that way," said Lichtenegger.

"I haven't seen any maps since I got back, but Mr. Weems and I have consulted several times by phone and are still working together. We have not come into any areas of disagreement that will be a deal buster."

Amick and Ziegenhorn are the only incumbents put in the same district by the process in Southeast Missouri.

Lichtenegger said Office of Administration staff was working through the weekend and planned to have a final draft of the map to commission members by late today.

Under the plan that will likely be considered by the full commission, Rep. Mary Kasten, R-Cape Girardeau, who now has all but three wards in the city of Cape Girardeau, would get wards 9 and 12 in south Cape Girardeau from Rep. David Schwab, R-Jackson. Schwab would retain Ward 18 and the rest of Cape County. In addition, he would gain about 1,000 voters around the Scopus area of Bollinger County.

Rep. Herb Fallert, D-Ste. Genevieve, would see little changes in his district. He would continue to have all of Perry County and a greater part of Ste. Genevieve County.

Rep. James Graham, R-Fredericktown, would lose the part of Iron County he now has but would retain all of Madison County, most of Farmington, and continue to have a part of Bollinger County.

Rep. Mark Richardson, R-Poplar Bluff, will have all of his home city and the part of Butler County east of the St. Francis River.

Driskill likely will retain all of Ripley County, the part of Butler County west of Poplar Bluff, and Wayne County. He now has a part of Carter County and could gain a larger part of that county or move into a portion of Bollinger County.

Another agreement in the 8th District is that Howell County will continue to have one legislative district within its boundaries.

Lichtenegger said he and Weems did seriously consider the idea of creating an "open district" without an incumbent. That district would have included the western third of Scott County, the southern half of Bollinger County, a small part of Stoddard County, and all of Wayne County.

The idea was shelved by Weems because it would have resulted in having incumbent Democrats running in the same district elsewhere.

Lichtenegger said it is his understanding that commissioners in other parts of the state were making progress over the weekend, including in the metropolitan areas. That makes it much more likely that a final plan can be agreed on this week.

On Tuesday the commission could agree to a tentative plan or give final approval to a plan. Both Lichtenegger and Weems said they are hoping for a final agreement this week.

If the commission fails to agree by late September, a panel of six state appellate court judges will draw the lines.

One problem that arose at Thursday's meeting was a complaint from Democratic commissioner Charlene Jones of St. Louis, the only black person on the panel. She offered a map that created 17 House districts with black majorities; presently there are 13 black members of the Missouri House.

But Jones' plan died for lack of a second and she refused to participate in other meetings.

Lichtenegger said the plan being considered by the commission does not violate the federal Voting Rights Act as Jones claims, which requires the redistricting commission to maximize minority districts.

He explained that the city of St. Louis, which has lost population, is about equally divided between whites and blacks. "She wants a disproportionate share of black districts in St. Louis," said Lichtenegger.

"We are not going to accept her plan as written, just as the Democrats aren't going to accept the Republican plan as written and Republicans are not going to accept the Democratic plan as written," he said.

Lichtengger said Jones did not participate in the small-group sessions designed to come up with a final plan and take alternative plans like hers into consideration.

Overall, Lichtenegger said, "I think we have come up with some pretty good districts. Everybody knows what's in their area, but we have all not yet seen a big map with everything. I think we can adopt a final plan Tuesday, or at least agree on a tentative plan."