Gail Gottlieb on Redistricting: A Knife through the Heart of Brandon

It’s official. According to the revised Hillsborough County redistricting plan, Brandon is not significant enough to warrant being kept intact as a community. Six of the seven County Commissioners have now voted to divide Brandon between two districts, with the new district border running right along Brandon Boulevard.

I remember growing up in Brandon and exploring its parks, neighborhoods, and shops. Everyone I knew thought of our community as including the public library, Brandon High School, the “new” hospital we were so proud of, First Baptist Church, the “rec center” and baseball diamonds on Kingsway Road, Horace Mann Middle School, Kingswood Elementary; stately Stowers Funeral Home (in the historic home of the Brandon family, our town’s founders), Nativity Catholic Church and School, and the restaurants, offices, and stores that line both sides of Brandon Boulevard. I had classmates, friends, and acquaintances both north and south of Brandon Boulevard. We all considered ourselves part of the Brandon community, even if we had different zip codes.

But change is coming and it’s not for the better. If you live north of Brandon Boulevard, instead of remaining in District 4 along with the rest of Brandon, you’ll soon be a new resident of Hillsborough County District 2, which includes Carrollwood, Citrus Park, and Lutz. I have nothing against those areas, but, really—do you feel a stronger sense of community and common purpose with them than you do with fellow Brandon residents just south of Brandon Boulevard? Isn’t the future of Brandon as a whole a more immediate concern to you than what happens in Lutz?

Of the seven County Commissioners, only District 6 Commissioner Kevin Beckner (who was elected on a county-wide basis) stood up for Brandon as a community. Even Brandon’s current representative, District 4 Commissioner Al Higgenbothan voted to dilute Brandon’s political voice by dividing it among two districts. Like Kevin Beckner, District 5 Commissioner Ken Hagen and District 7 Commission Mark Sharpe owe their positions to a county-wide election that included voters from Brandon. But unlike Beckner, Hagen and Sharpe respected Brandon so little that they chose to bifurcate it along Brandon Boulevard, which is the very heart of Brandon, not its border. Should they ever have wider political ambitions—or simply wish to retain their current positions—Higgenbothan, Hagen, and Sharpe should not be surprised when Brandon residents remember how these Commissioners voted.