Time to vote gerrymandering out of existence

(AP) Oh, please, just stop it already.
Seriously, there should be no need for another editorial railing against gerrymandering legislative districts. The practice is wrong, selfish, small-minded and — most wretchedly — devastating to democracy.
The Pennsylvania legislature — indeed, any legislature anywhere where it hasn't already happened — should remove politics from the process.
For those unfamiliar with it, “gerrymandering" is the habit of linking together voting precincts in a way that favors one party or another, regardless of the shape the resultant legislative district may take.
Locally, Congressional District 17 is a strong example. When districts were redrawn after the 2010 census by a Republican-controlled legislature, 17 became a bifurcated blotch, oozing north from Schuylkill county before splitting to the east to gobble up Easton and splitting to the north and west to poke down into Wilkes-Barre and up into Scranton.
Presumably, the idea of the Republicans who drew this monstrosity was to carve heavily Democratic urban areas into their own district, leaving redder municipalities to be scooped up by neighboring districts. They essentially ceded 17 to the Democrats in order to increase odds of winning other newly-drawn districts.
For example, in the same redistricting process, the 11 Congressional District was shifted from heavily Democratic to more evenly balance between the two parties, making it easier for U.S. Rep. Lou Barletta, R-Hazleton, to retain his seat every two years.
Gerrymandering contorts districts and, in turn, contorts reality. It splits up counties and even municipalities that clearly should all be in a single district. And it creates gridlock in legislative bodies, as elected officials feel so safe in taking a hard line that compromise between the two parties becomes next to impossible.
Luzerne County Council is poised to vote on a resolution supporting proposals in Harrisburg that would take the redistricting process out of legislative hands and put it under control of an independent commission designed to be balanced between the two major parties, with some seats given to those unaffiliated with either.
Councilman Harry Haas rightly questioned if it's wise for council to take a stand on an issue that is not, technically, under its jurisdiction.
A fair question, and the answer here is, yes, vote for the resolution. Luzerne County Council and every voting resident in Pennsylvania should send Harrisburg a clear message by whatever avenues they have available: Do the right thing, take politics out of redistricting. Make Pennsylvania a model of fairness, not a textbook example of how to gerrymandering fairness into oblivion.
Gerrymandering is tool for political gain at the expense of reason and fairness. It is a corrupting influence on Harrisburg and Washington. It is a monkey wrench deliberately tossed into the machinery of democracy.
It is, in short, an embarrassment.
Wilkes-Barre Times Leader