Not all ‘community leaders’ support Congressional shift (Updated)
by February 1, 2011 11:40 am 71 views
It’s unclear who Sen. Gilbert Baker, R-Conway, referred to when he said “community leaders” in Fort Smith and Sebastian County may support seeing Sebastian County move into the 4th Congressional District.
Baker, who chairs the powerful Joint Budget Committee and is vice-chair of the State Agencies Committee, recently said in an interview with Talk Business that Sebastian County could move into the 4th Congressional District along with a portion of Pulaski County.
State lawmakers will oversee the redrawing of Congressional lines, which include shrinking the 3rd District and the 2nd District (central Arkansas), and growing in size the 1st and 4th Districts due to population shifts. The size of the 3rd District has shrunk considerably since 1960 as the population in Northwest Arkansas has grown considerably faster than other areas of the state. (See maps below.)
"The numbers match up there (in Sebastian County) a little bit so that is a scenario that’s in play. You have community leaders in Fort Smith that recognize that if they were in the Fourth District they would be kind of the big dog in the Fourth District," Baker said during the interview.
Updated info:
Baker would not say who he had talked to from Sebastian County, other that to say it was “just some folks involved with business interests in Fort Smith.” However, Baker said the “very limited feedback” he has received from Fort Smith and Sebastian County indicates that more people want to stay in the 3rd District.
“A lot of folks have expressed to me that they wouldn’t be comfortable with that (moving to the 4th),” Baker told The City Wire.
Also, Baker was unwilling to estimate the chance of Sebastian County staying or moving. He did say the issue is about to heat up and move fast.
“This thing’s going to move pretty fast once we get into February. So stay tuned and stay in touch,” Baker said.
At least four area business, civic and political leaders say there is no advantage to moving from the 3rd District into the 4th District.
At least four area business, civic and political leaders say there is no advantage to moving from the 3rd District into the 4th District.
“Not only are we opposed to it, we’re putting together a resolution for the board asking the Legislature to keep us in the 3rd District,” said Fort Smith City Administrator Ray Gosack.
Paul Harvel, president of the Fort Smith Regional Chamber of Commerce, said the region has spent much time and effort building relationships with other communities in the 3rd District.
“The chamber believes we need to stay in this (3rd) district,” Harvel said, adding that “too many lobbying efforts and other things in the pipeline” would be lost if forced to shift into another Congressional district.
Harvel and Gosack said the opposition to a move has nothing to do with 4th District U.S. Rep. Mike Ross, D-Prescott. They both say Ross is responsive to area needs, and noted that Logan and Scott counties — part of the Fort Smith metro area — are now in the 4th District.
“This is nothing against Congressman Ross, because he’s been supportive, especially with I-49. … But we have far more in common with Northwest Arkansas and the rest of the (3rd) district than we do with that area (4th district),” Gosack explained.
Rex Terry, a Fort Smith attorney and chairman of the Sebastian County Republican Committee, is personally opposed to the county moving to the 4th District. While he stressed that the GOP does not have a position on the matter, he said a “vast majority” of people he hears from are opposed to a Congressional district shift.
“We’re much more aligned with Fayetteville and Springdale and Rogers, etc.,” Terry said. “It just makes more sense to stay with them.”
Sen. Jake Files, R-Fort Smith, also opposes Sebastian County being moved into the 4th District. He said he would fight any legislative plan that would move the county out of the 3rd District.
