Port of Quincy divided into two state districts

QUINCY - The northern portion of the Port of Quincy now lies in the 12th Legislative District, according to a final plan approved by the Washington State Redistricting Commission.

Most of the port still remains in the 13th District, according to Pat Boss, a spokesperson with the Port of Quincy, on Monday.

The new boundaries are reviewed by the Legislature during its upcoming session, which has 30 days to review and change the plan, stated Genevieve O'Sullivan, the commission's communications director.

The change shouldn't affect how Quincy interacts with 13th District legislators, Boss said.

"In a way, it's a good thing," he said. "The more access you can have to multiple legislators, the more Quincy can get done."

With the new boundaries, all of the area's data centers, most of Quincy's businesses, and the port's intermodal facility remain in the 13th District.

The City of Quincy remains within the 13th District, according to the commission, but a sliver of land north of town lies in the 12th District, Boss said.

"We had heard rumors they were going to split (the city of) Quincy right down the center," he said.

But it didn't happen, instead just a portion of land outside of town was placed in the 12th District.

At this point, the port doesn't plan on appealing the commission's plan, he said.

"The way the lines are drawn, it's not a huge impact," he said. "If Quincy had been split in two, the port would have had some concerns."

With the new boundaries, Lincoln County is part of the 13th District.

"With Lincoln County being added, it will add more horsepower politically to the Odessa water supply issue," he said. "Hopefully it will bring more attention to the issue and help it out even more from a water standpoint."

The counties of Lincoln, Grant and Kittitas now share the 13th district, but are located in three Congressional districts, he said.

The 14th, 15th and 16th districts underwent huge boundary changes, while the 13th District wasn't impacted as much.

In the cases of the other districts, the legislators may not live in their districts anymore, Boss commented.

Quincy Mayor Jim Hemberry said he didn't like the Quincy School District being split into two Legislative districts, but preferred it over splitting the city.