When he announced his congressional-redistricting plan a couple of weeks ago, House Speaker Tom Finneran challenged anyone who didn’t like it to come up with a better idea. " Everybody is entitled to go to their software program and come up with their own map, " said Finneran. " I’ll wait to see who proposes what. " Finneran has emphasized that alternate plans should reflect the three " noble goals " he pursued when he crafted his own plan: creating compact districts that correspond to communities of interest; establishing the state’s first " majority/minority " district; and responding to the population growth in southeastern Massachusetts.

Now, Brookline-based software developer Jon Garfunkel is taking Finneran up on his offer. Garfunkel has devised a redistricting plan that he’s posted online at http://look.boston.ma.us. Garfunkel’s plan restores the current Fifth Congressional District (Marty Meehan gets to keep his seat), places all of Suffolk County in the Eighth Congressional District, and creates a special district for southeastern Massachusetts — the Ninth. How? By doing what would seem obvious: he eliminates the current Ninth — the only district that covers part of southeastern Massachusetts and has no incumbent.

Of course, Garfunkel’s plan contains a couple of serious non-starters. First, it takes Somerville out of the Eighth and puts it in the Seventh — Ed Markey’s district. This pits Markey and another incumbent, Michael Capuano of Somerville, against each other — a mistake, especially since Capuano is becoming adept at winning funding for the district, à la Joe Moakley. Garfunkel would also have to do some rejiggering to create a minority-majority district as Finneran has; under Garfunkel’s plan, the Eighth is only 49 percent minority. This problem could easily be solved by exchanging parts of West Roxbury for Cambridge.

But Garfunkel, a New York native who has lived in Massachusetts for three years, really hits the third rail of local politics by taking South Boston out of the Ninth District and putting it together with the rest of the city. Southie may not be the natural center of the Ninth anymore, but the latest polls suggest that it still carries electoral clout.

There is a certain logic in carving up the one district with no current congressman — especially since the Ninth now stretches into Taunton. But Garfunkel forgets that there’s a redistricting objective beyond Finneran’s three goals: not antagonizing some of the most potent political players on the local scene. His plan would incur the wrath of Capuano (who wants to keep his district), Mayor Tom Menino (who wants two representatives for Boston), and the people of South Boston (who want their traditional district). Garfunkel’s plan would also mean upsetting the results of the impending special election for the Ninth.

Lawrence DiCara, a lawyer and consultant to Finneran’s redistricting team, says Garfunkel is welcome to submit his plan. " We will look at any map that is sent to us, " he says. " Some will be looked at more carefully than others. "

Issue Date: August 2 - 9, 2001