212 NATIONAL, CIVIC REVIEW [April

Citizen Action . . . Kim Taylor, Editor

Iowa LWV Maps Districts

League Goes to Court With “on-political’ Plan

S I N C E 1955 the League of Women Voters of Iowa has been involved in

the state’s reapportionment efforts, mak- ing studies, endorsing proposals and cam- paigning for fair standards. In 1968 Iowa voters ratified a league-supported consti- tutional amendment providing for fair reapportionment every 10 years. When the voters two years later passed a single- member district amendment, the crusade seemed at an end.

The General Assembly accepted a plan drawn up by a non-legislative authority which the state supreme court subse- quently declared unconstitutional. But the 1970 elections were held and the court directed the new legislature to have new districts for the 1972 election. A new plan was drawn up but it met none of the criteria set up by the I968 amend- ment: The lines were not drawn by an independent authority; one of the main considerations of the plan, claims the Zowa Voter, was protecting the incum- bents; and population deviation was 3.8 percent.

To register its objections the league joined with the Iowa Civil Liberties Union and the United Auto Workers to file a petition in the state supreme court. They asked that the court review the plan and adopt, or cause to be adopted, a new plan within 90 days.

Evidence showing that a better plan could be drawn was needed for the hear- ing. The attorneys looked to the league for the improvements. A league commit- tee began by analyzing the plan in ques- tion, discovering that the 3.8 percent

deviation was difficult to change. As a re- sult they devised and added a new cri- terion which was to be used only when the three basic ones did not guide remap- ping. Respect for existing governmental lines so that county boundaries were to be the most highly regarded, while towns, cities and townships followed in descending order, was the new standard.

The league’s reapportionment commit- tee developed another criterion to deter- mine districts, again to be used only when the others were not applicable. In- stead of dealing with extremes the new standard measured the distribution of districts by describing the deviation of each from the mean. In the final plan submitted to the court 68 percent of the state’s population was in districts which come within 53 people (the standard de- viation in this case) of the ideal House district.

According to the Zowa Voter the league had been caught unexpectedly in the role of drawing the new plan and had no money in its budget for such an operation. The volunteers started the project with an adding machine borrowed from a local league. When the plan drawn by the legislature appeared to be faultless, they borrowed time on a computer. They started with a six-card program but as their statistical computations become more sophisticated they graduated to a 400-card program. Finally, after less than two months, the league devised a relatively flawless plan and halted.

Later in September the case went to court. The league’s plan was the primary evidence showing that existing districts violated equal population requirements approved by the voters in 1%8 and 1970. The state’s attorneys found it hard to believe that no one had looked at a map to see which legislators would be displaced. League volunteers had not allowed anyone

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to analyze the political consequences of the plan as it was put together. Census tracts were used, and they have no street names so that none of the workers could tell whose district was jeopardized.

In January the court heard the case. Its decision was unanimous-the legislative plan violated both the Iowa and United States constitutions. The justices agreed that impermissible considerations were used in that plan: protection of incum- bents which resulted in non-compact but safe districts, with maintenance of the present district boundaries wherever pos- sible ; the smallest population variance possible had not been achieved and an unconstitutional “de minimis” standard had been used, an agreement not to exceed the 3.8 percent deviation, although the courts had consistently refused to establish a norm.

The state supreme court retained jur- isdiction to reapportion the district lines itself. The new plan is expected this month and the court has appointed officials of the Legislative Reference Bureau to prepare it. The justices declared in their decision that, “. . . although we consider the efforts of the league laudable, and its plan relevant, it remains our duty to develop a decennial plan in keeping with constitutional mandate.”

Students Challenge Federal Agencies

Students at the George Washington University National Law Center in Wash- ington, D. C., have initiated several proj- ects challenging federal regulatory agencies, according to Phoemia Qzcarterly. Student groups have petitioned the Fed- eral Trade Commission to ban deceptive ads, another has requested the FDA to require full disclosure of food contents on container labels, while still another is in court to obtain utility rates which will relate to the need to conserve energy.

Qne project organized last September,

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Students Challenging Regulatory Agency Procedures (S.C.R.A.P.), is trying to get lower railroad freight rates, which are higher for scrap than for raw ma- terials. The students’ position is that the higher rates will prohibit recycling efforts and cause excessive destruction of natural resources, build-up of solid wastes, in- creased disposal costs for cities, and the use of raw materials for finished goods where secondary products would produce comparable quality at a lower cost.

The students discovered that the Inter- state Commerce Commission had failed to file notice of the rate increase for scrap material with the Council on Environ- mental Quality as required by the Na- tional Environmental Policy Act of 1969. (All major agencies must file notice with the council of major operating changes so that effects on the environment can be evaluated.) After much research to prove that the rate differences could adversely affect the environment, students, in ac- cordance with ICC procedures, filed over 300 petitions with the various participants.

Tulsa Citizen Groups to Work on Plan

Tulsa, Oklahoma, citizens are being invited to help update the comprehensive development plan for the metropolitan area. Three citizen groups will participate: two are already functioning and the third will be organized in the 24 planning dis- tricts by the staff of the Tulsa Metropoli- tan Area Planning Commission.

The proposal recently announced by the mayor, called Vision 2000, will draw on those already serving on the Mayor’s Advisory Committee formed about a year ago, and from the Youth Review Com- mittee representing each of the city’s high schools. The group still to be organized is the Greater Tulsa Council.

The plan, expected to be completed by 1974, will carry the city through 1995 and be the first updating of the 1965 plan, according tp the Tulsa Daily world.

2 14 NATIONAL CIVIC REVIEW [April

U. S. Chamber of Commerce Releases Urban Studies

The Urban Action Clearing House of the Chamber of Commerce of the United States has added four studies to its series documenting business/citizen projects (see the REVIEW, July 1971, page 410). These studies report on activities in Detroit, Columbus and Savannah, Georgia, and the Twin Cities area (1615 H Street, N. W., Washington, D. C. 20006).

The Business Advisory Resource Bank in Detroit was established to aid minority businessmen. The chamber of commerce believes that an important step in solving social problems in strengthening the eco- nomic base, and thus provided voluntary management and technical assistance to minority entrepreneurs. The group tried to avoid duplicating services that are avail- able through governmental aid programs, and concentrated on supplying personal guidance and experience.

In Columbus the chamber of commerce joined with residents of the city and county dissatisfied with the delivery of services and high taxes. In 1962 a con- solidation proposal was defeated. After another citizen’s committee recommended consolidation in 1970 the chamber worked to join Columbus and Muscogee County into one government. The voters accepted this time and the government became ef- fective in January 1971.

The Savannah Plan instituted by the Citizens and Southern National Bank was started to help slum dwellers clean up their neighborhoods, and provides bank loans to help them become homeowners and put themselves in business. The plan bolstered local civic pride and opened lines of communication between different racial, social and economic groups in the city. A

community development corporation which provides loans at standard interest rates to slum landlords to bring rental units up to housing code standards has allowed some who would never otherwise have the opportunity to own their own homes.

Business and civic leaders in seven counties surrounding the Minneapolis-St. Paul area initiated the metropolitan coun- cil established by the state legislature in 1967 to meet areawide needs. The council guides local government actions and pro- vides advice. I t has veto and taxing powers to help community leaders achieve orderly planning and development, and provides services to the metropolitan area.

€IUD Film Depicts Citizen Work on Plans

Citizen participation in community plan- ning is depicted in an animated film re- leased by the U. S. Department of Hous- ing and Urban Development. The film is the work of a young black Chicago film- maker. Through a special arrangement with the Small Business Administration and H U D the movie shows the effective- ness of the various methods for involving community groups through the urban planning process.

The Process Works is one of four works produced by minority filmmakers. Accord- ing to H U D officials this communica- tion between communities and planning officiaIs will provide a valuable introduc- tion to those seeking federal subsidies for redevelopment projects.

The film is available on free loan from Modern Talking Picture Services, 1212 Avenue of the Americas, New York, or at MTPS offices in Washington, D. C., Atlanta, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago and Dallas.