Unlike the rest of us, Colorado College professor Bob Loevy had something better to do with his free time in recent weeks than obsess on Tim Tebow.
Loevy was one of five Republicans who served on the 11-person panel that re-drew the boundaries for legislative districts.
That process, known as reapportionment, officially wrapped up last week in much the same way of recent Denver Broncos games:
* The team with the “D” in its name scored a last-minute victory;
* The winning team’s play-calling was, in Democratic Gov. John Hickenlooper’s view, “disappointing “; and
* While much of the play was ugly, the final score (in this case, 38 “competitive districts”) is one that most of Colorado can cheer.
Loevy confessed to missing at least one of the recent Mile High miracles as he studied maps created near the end of the process. And in the last few weeks — while we were uploading “Tebowing” pictures and Googling to see whether the QB and Lindsey Vonn were an item (she says no) — he wrote and published online a 100-page memoir about his experiences on the reapportionment commission.
While acknowledging the “hidden treasure” of so many competitive districts, he said the process has been “a total failure” since it was introduced in 1974 as a way to minimize party control of the process.
Loevy said it has always been dominated by whatever party is in power. That dynamic appeared to be different this time around, as the major parties each had five members on the commission, which was chaired by a lone unaffiliated voter.
Loevy called it “unprecedented” and said it “gave a great boost to Republicans.”
For that, credit goes to the appointments made by the governor and Supreme Court Chief Justice Michael Bender, who aimed to reduce the partisan acrimony.
The balanced board was one that Hickenlooper said he thought might be able to produce maps that were passed 11-0. The penultimate round of maps got 8- and 9-vote tallies.
But the bipartisanship broke down when the Supreme Court sent those maps, which aimed to create more competitive districts, back to the commission on the grounds that they contained too many county and city splits.
The overtime period has been well documented, so I’ll spare you the play-by-play. The summary is that the votes were 6-5. Most Democrats are happy with the outcome and many Republicans are fuming.
Hickenlooper said he objects to many lawmakers being drawn into districts where they must now decide between stepping down or running against another incumbents in a primary.
“A lot of these people, over the last year, I got to know them fairly well. And they are dedicated to their jobs,” he said.
Hickenlooper’s “largest disappointment was the bitterness of the process — certainly at the end.”
He said it defies the state’s reputation as “one of the few places left in this country where people compromise and cross party lines for the common good.”
He is among those calling for change, notably making competitiveness a factor in new districts.
Loevy has nine recommendations, ranging from changing how commissioners are appointed to increasing the number of votes needed to approve final maps.
Still others are pushing for a process, like in Iowa, where maps are drawn and discussed publicly.
The current system is like Tebow in that it draws strong and differing opinions. And as with the polarizing quarterback, the one thing we should all agree upon is the need for improvement.
Follow Curtis Hubbard on Twitter @curtishubbard.
