CITY BEAT: ‘REDISTRICTING’ PUTS MANY ILLINOIS REPRESENTATIVES AT A DISTANCE

     There was a time when members of the General Assembly who represented Decatur districts lived in Decatur or in a community close to Decatur.
     I was very much aware of who represented me in the General Assembly because I talked with them quite often, in interviews for this newspaper and whenever we would see each other on the street, in stores or at local events.
Regardless of their party affiliation I enjoyed talking with them, not only as an editor, but as a resident of Decatur.
They were my voices in the state capital and they knew about the needs of Decatur because they lived here, or nearby.
     During those early years that I was editor, some of my representatives had offices downtown — one even had his office in the same building as this newspaper!
Seeing those who represented Decatur was very common — because they were here a great amount of time.

Representation Has Changed

     There is no longer that “closeness” that many politicians (not all) once had with Decatur in the early years when I was covering the area political scene for this newspaper.
     Why the change?
     “Redistricting” is one of the reasons. The crazy way the political party in power draws the new congressional and state legislative district boundaries have removed “close citizen/officeholder” contact in more than a few cases. Parts of Decatur and Macon County are, in more than a few instances, being represented by elected officials who know very little about our community because they don’t live here and don’t have much contact with us.
     According to Ballotpedia “Each of Illinois’ 17 United States Represent-atives and 177 state legislators are elected from political divisions called districts. United States Senators are not elected by districts, but by the states at large. District lines are redrawn every 10 years following completion of the United States census. The federal government stipulates that districts must have nearly equal populations and must not discriminate on the basis of race or ethnicity.
     Population loss has also changed the number of Congressional seats that Illinois has in the nation’s capitol.
“Illinois was apportioned 17 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives after the 2020 census, 1 fewer than it received after the 2010 census.”
     Although we still have a few officeholders who represent us living in Decatur and Macon County, many do not.
     In fact, I live in the southern part of Decatur that is in District 107 and none of my state and congressional representation lives anywhere close to my home, or my place of business.
     My state representative lives in Shelbyville, my state senator lives in Springfield and the person who represents me in Congress in the 15th District lives in Oakland.
     They are not exactly next door neighbors.
     Although I’m sure all three have been to Decatur on occasion, I’ve never seen any of the three who represent me and others in Decatur at a local event or interviewed any of them.
     Obviously, it is not their fault that districts were drawn in such a crazy way to give an advantage to the party in power, but it speaks to how citizen representation has changed over the years.
     These comments are not about the qualifications of those serving, but to show how redistricting has spread out districts in such an unbelievable way.
     Of course, one way that representation could be closer to where we live is for candidates from Decatur or Macon County to emerge.
     However, with the crazy redistricting patterns, if a Decatur resident won, people in Shelbyville, Springfield or Oakland might feel left out.

     • SOME OF you reading this column today live in the area of Decatur and Macon County who have local people representing you in the state capital.
     Democrat State Rep. Sue Scherer of Decatur represents the 96th District, which includes a big part of Decatur and she has always been available for any questions I have, or to come to the newspaper office for an interview.
     Sue has served as state representative for more than a dozen years and I always appreciate when she calls from time to time to see if we should sit down and talk about what’s going on that impacts her district.
Republican State Rep. Regan Deering of Decatur represents the 88th District which in-cludes parts of DeWitt, Macon, McLean, and Piatt counties.
     I see her at various places and events in Decatur and sometimes, chat briefly downtown at the post office or in our office building when she is heading up to do an interview on WSOY.
     Although she was just sworn into office earlier this year, she was a hard working campaigner and she continues that hard work in meeting with those she represents. That’s refreshing in today’s political environment.

     • THROWN OUT! — Last week, the Illinois Supreme Court rule that House Republicans waited too long to file a lawsuit challenging legislative maps drawn in 2021, as reported by Ben Szalinski of Capital News.
     As a result, the Democrat-majority court will not hear the case.
     House Republican Leader Tony McCombie, R-Savanna, along with a group of individual voters, asked the court to reject the current legislative map for its partisan bias and lack of compactness. House Republicans wanted the court to appoint a special master to redraw the districts.
They alleged the voting district maps are not “compact,” a requirement of the state constitution, which has led to allegations of gerrymandering in favor of Democrats.
     So, I guess we’ll have more “gerrymandering” in the future with elections including districts that include Decatur and, it seems, the planet of Mars!
     The only sensible way to draw legislative districts in Illinois is by a non-partisan computer!

     • I THINK one other reason for the perceived “aloofness” of some state and congressional officeholders is the change in technology where many in elected office control questions and dialogues by having their own social media sites such as Facebook.
     Although informing constituents via Facebook is one way to stay in contact, it should not be the only way.
Many citizens are not on social media, or refuse to check out such platforms.
     As publisher of this newspaper, which has both online and print editions, I can testify that the overwhelming majority of our readers want the “paper edition” instead of the “online edition”.
     We have a lot of online readers, but they represent a fraction of total readership of this newspaper — which prefers the paper edition.
     Apparently, print newspapers are not as dead as some politicians feel they are, and we will keep informing those who like to turn actual pages of a newspaper on what is going on with those they elect to serve them.
     That has always been a major role of this newspaper and I still take that journalistic responsibility very seriously.

     • CONGRATS! Lori Kerans, from the Class of ’85 and Millikin University Athletics Hall of Fame coach, has been appointed Vice President for Athletics and Community En-gagement, effective April 16, 2025. (Story on page 10 of this week’s print and online editions.)
     Kerans currently serves as Millikin’s Director of Community Engagement & Recruitment in the Office of Admission.
     The announcement stated: “Her diligent efforts and commitment to fostering collaborative partnerships have led to five-year highs in the number and percentage of first-year students coming from Macon County.”
     I’ve known Lori since she was a student at Millikin and a star basketball player. I had the “Newsline” daily television program back then and interviewed her coach, Harriett Crannell, and also interviewed Lori after her team won a hard fought tournament game.
     What I remember about that basketball season was that Lori had an emergency appendectomy and then played in the game the next night!
     I haven’t forgotten that — even though its been 40 years ago!!!!
     I was also at the news conference in 1986 when Lori was presented as the next coach of the Millikin Women’s Basketball Team and it seems like only yesterday.
     I was mayor when the Millikin team Lori coached won the NCAA Division III National Championship in 2004-05 and presented Stephen Decatur medallions to Lori and the team members during a city council meeting.
     Lori and I had a mini-reunion last Thursday morning at the elevator in our building as I was leaving the WSOY studio and she was arriving to be interviewed about her advancement by Kevin Breheny (who was hosting in place of the vacationing Brian Byers.)
     Best wishes always to Lori. She is a success in all that she does — even in bouncing back from an emergency appendectomy! (That tops me leaving the hospital a day early to get back to the newspaper after suffering congestive heart failure four years ago.)
     Lori is a winner in all that she does.

     • HAPPY BIRTHDAY to faithful subscriber Walter Carter of Decatur who will be 99 years of age on May 21st.
     Walt wrote: “What I like about your paper is that you honor God, love Decatur, publish clean humor and promote honesty. (Everything that is lacking in today’s world.). Keep on, keeping on.”
     Thank you, Walt, for the kind words and special gift to the Tribune in observance of your 99th birthday,
Keep on, keeping on!
     I appreciate Walt and all of our readers who continue to support us.

     • I JOIN Brian Byers on WSOY’s Byers & Co., every Thursday morning at 7:00 for the City Hall Insider.

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