There’s an idea floating around the fairly small circle of Pierce County Districting Committee followers that might either be a simple fix to a thorny problem or a controversial blending of politics and map making.

What if the five-member districting committee took the final map submitted by Districting Master Steven Garrett and switched the name of two districts? That is, what if they changed the proposed 7th District to “4th District” and the proposed 4th district to “7th District?”

There is nothing especially magical about the names of districts. They are simply numbered 1 through 7 and district names/numbers have been changed in past districting efforts.

But this change would mean incumbent Council Member Stan Flemming would not become an outsider looking in. That is, he would not have to represent a district that he no longer lives in.

This get’s kind of complicated do stay with me…Flemming lives in University Place and was elected last year to represent what is now called the 7th District that encompasses U Place, a little bit of West Tacoma around the eastern foothold of the Narrows Bridge and then all of the Gig Harbor Peninsula.

The proposed map would group the peninsula and much of west and north Tacoma in a new 7th. U Place and Fircrest would be joined with South Tacoma and the downtown area in a new 4th.

As of now, Flemming would continue to represent the 7th for three more years even though he would no longer live in it. That’s how the county charter deals with instances such as this when a new district plan doesn’t include the incumbent’s house. But if the numbers were switched, Flemming would both represent and live in what would be called the 7th District.

The district that covers the peninsula and a good chunk of Tacoma would be called the 4th and would be represented by incumbent Tim Farrell. While Farrell’s house is just outside this district he would only represent it for one more year because he is term limited. Farrell has announced plans to run for county assessor-treasurer next year.

Simple, right? Not necessarily. Democrats might not want to give Republican Flemming three years to represent what they likely feel is a Democratic or Democratic-leaning district. It might allow him to hold onto it in three years. Others might argue that the committee shouldn’t be worried about “incumbent protection.”

And Republicans might be leery of giving Farrell even a year to represent, including mailing to and holding town halls within, a swing area like the peninsula that might help determine a contested assessor-treasurer race.

Sam Ross, one of two Democratic appointees on the district committee said he has heard of the idea and might introduce it as an amendment to the final plan at next Tuesday’s final committee meeting.

“It seems like a good idea,” Ross said. “It would solve the problem of Stan Flemming being outside his district. It (the UP and Tacoma district) would still have a substantial portion of Stan’s old district.”

It takes four votes to amend the final map. That means a potential Ross amendment would have to attract the chair – former Judge Karen Seinfeld – and both Republicans on the committee, Deryl McCarty and Michael Abernathy. Or one Republican, Seinfeld and the other Democrat Ken Blair. Or Seinfeld and Blair and one of the Republicans.

Well, you get the idea of the math and the politics that make amending a final map difficult.

For a closer look at the final official Districting Committee map released last week here’s a link to an image file.

Or you can click on the map below and then click on it again to enlarge…