Post by Brian on Jun 11, 2011 23:00:56 GMT -8
I voted against both of the propositions that established the duties of the California Citizens Redistricting Commission -- and for another proposition that would have aborted it after the first one was passed. With the release on Friday of their astounding proposed district maps, I have to ask myself why I was ever against the commission -- and why Republicans like Rep. David Dreier were ever for it.
The first 42 years of my life as a Tujungan, my Congressional district was drawn to be a safe Republican seat, including my hometown, back and forth, with either Glendale or Simi Valley. In 2000, we elected Adam Schiff and deposed impeachment guru James Rogan, enjoying two years of Democratic representation before the next reapportionment gave us uber Republican Buck McKeon and a district that stretched all the way to my favorite campsite in the Sierras west of Reno, no kidding.
I'd probably be pleased with any map that had Tujunga in its title. But this one is a thing of beauty: the entire district is in the city of Los Angeles along with the pocket we call the city of San Fernando. The boundaries take in portions currently represented by Brad Sherman, Howard Berman and old Buck. I don't need to refer to the census to know that my new district, if approved on August 15, will be majority Democratic and Latino. And no sitting Congressman lives in it now.
According to the Los Angeles Times, ambitious politicians are already plotting campaigns and changes of residence based on the proposed lines. Dreier's plight is so remarkable that the paper gave him a front-page sidebar. The commission stripped him of well off towns like La Canada Flintridge, Rancho Cucamonga and Sierra Madre and saddled him with Latinos and Asians in the San Gabriel Valley who are now represented by Democrat Judy Chu. He was about as far as he could be from home when the news came down -- on a fact finding trip in Kyrgyzstan -- so his staff issued a meek statement saying the map was still only proposal.
I'm such a political junkie that my head's been spinning happily all day. The proposed lines are earth-shattering enough. But the 2012 California primaries will be the first conducted with members of all (and no) parties running together, with the top two candidates running against each other in the general election. Let your mind wander through all of the possibilities by viewing the official website:
wedrawthelines.ca.gov/maps-first-drafts.html
The first 42 years of my life as a Tujungan, my Congressional district was drawn to be a safe Republican seat, including my hometown, back and forth, with either Glendale or Simi Valley. In 2000, we elected Adam Schiff and deposed impeachment guru James Rogan, enjoying two years of Democratic representation before the next reapportionment gave us uber Republican Buck McKeon and a district that stretched all the way to my favorite campsite in the Sierras west of Reno, no kidding.
I'd probably be pleased with any map that had Tujunga in its title. But this one is a thing of beauty: the entire district is in the city of Los Angeles along with the pocket we call the city of San Fernando. The boundaries take in portions currently represented by Brad Sherman, Howard Berman and old Buck. I don't need to refer to the census to know that my new district, if approved on August 15, will be majority Democratic and Latino. And no sitting Congressman lives in it now.
According to the Los Angeles Times, ambitious politicians are already plotting campaigns and changes of residence based on the proposed lines. Dreier's plight is so remarkable that the paper gave him a front-page sidebar. The commission stripped him of well off towns like La Canada Flintridge, Rancho Cucamonga and Sierra Madre and saddled him with Latinos and Asians in the San Gabriel Valley who are now represented by Democrat Judy Chu. He was about as far as he could be from home when the news came down -- on a fact finding trip in Kyrgyzstan -- so his staff issued a meek statement saying the map was still only proposal.
I'm such a political junkie that my head's been spinning happily all day. The proposed lines are earth-shattering enough. But the 2012 California primaries will be the first conducted with members of all (and no) parties running together, with the top two candidates running against each other in the general election. Let your mind wander through all of the possibilities by viewing the official website:
wedrawthelines.ca.gov/maps-first-drafts.html
