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Redistricting Reform
March 1, 2008
Southwest California
Businesses Support Redistricting Reform
 The
Temecula Valley, Murrieta and Lake Elsinore Valley Chambers
through their regional advocacy coalition, the Southwest
California Legislative Council (SWCLC) supports the
California Voters FIRST Act concept which seeks to reform
the way state legislators are elected. SWCLC supported the
Governor’s proposal, which never came to fruition. This
proposal would go to the voters for their approval.
Click
here to visit the California VOTERS First Web site.
Every 10 years, after the census, new boundary lines for the
United States Congress and California Senate, Assembly and
Board of Equalization districts are drawn. Currently, the
California State Legislature draws those lines. This is
viewed as a major conflict of interest.
"We continue to look for ways the business communities in
Southwest region can remain competitive with surrounding
communities and redistricting reform is a possible answer,"
stated Greg Morrison, Chair of the Southwest California
Legislative Council. "The California Voters FIRST Act is
only one way we can make our region more business friendly,"
continued Morrison.
The California Voters FIRST Act aims to eliminate the
conflict of interest. A 14-person citizens redistricting
commission would be created. The California Voters FIRST Act
would create a politically balanced Commission - five
democrats, five republicans, and four others. Commissioners
would be chosen for their impartiality, skills, and to
reflect our State’s demographic and geographic diversity.
The Act would protect communities, cities, and counties. The
California Voters FIRST Act would create a list of
prioritized mapping criteria for the Commission to follow.
This would ensure that our Constitution, federal and state
laws are followed. The U.S. Congressional Districts would
continue to be drawn by the State Legislature.
The process would also be open and public. The Commission
would hold hearings to receive public input. The California
Voters FIRST Act would end the closed-door political deals
by legislators to draw districts that protect themselves.
The Act will be placed on the November 2008 ballot pending
count of signatures by the Office of the Secretary of State.
Proposal Details
California Voters FIRST Act is pending count of signatures
by the Office of the Secretary of State.
The Commission would be formed by inviting California
registered voters to participate. A pool of 60 (20
Democrats, 20 Republicans, 20 others) is selected based on
their skills, ability to be impartial, and diversity by a
review panel of state auditors (1 Democrat, 1 Republican, 1
other).
The 4 Legislative Leaders can strike up to 24 people from
the pool. Out of the remaining pool, 8 Commissioners are
randomly picked - 3 Democrats, 3 Republicans, 2 others.
The final 6 Commissioners (2 Democrats, 2 Republicans, 2
others) are chosen by the 8 Commissioners from the remaining
pool based on the balance of skills and diversity they would
bring.
The mapping criteria for the Commission to follow include,
which are ranked in order, are:
- Districts
shall comply with the US Constitution, including equal
population requirements.
- Districts
shall comply with the Voting Rights Act.
- Districts
shall be geographically contiguous.
- The geographic
integrity of any city, county, or city and county,
neighborhoods, or communities of interest shall be
respected. Communities of interest shall not be defined as
having a relationship with incumbents, candidates, or
parties.
- To the extent
possible, after the above criteria have been satisfied,
districts shall be compact.
- To the extent
possible, after the above criteria have been satisfied,
districts shall be nested.
Incumbent residences may not be considered; districts may
not be drawn to favor politicians or parties.
The scope of the Citizen’s Redistricting Commission includes
the district drawing of the California Senate, Assembly and
Board of Equalization seats in the next redistricting cycle
in 2011 and after each decennial census.
The State Legislature will draw Congressional seats,
following the same mapping criteria and hearing requirements
as the Commission.
According to California Common Cause (also supporter of the
Act):
- 66% support
creating an independent redistricting commission to draw
district lines instead of incumbent legislators.
- 86% want an
open process and an end to back room deals in redistricting.
- 78 - 81% want
a redistricting process that keeps their neighborhoods and
cities together and divided as little as possible
Click
here to visit the California VOTERS First Web site.
March 2, 2007
Regional
Business
Community Supports Redistricting Efforts
The Southwest California Legislative Council (SWCLC)
supports efforts to make California elections more
competitive by reforming the highly politicized process of
drawing legislative and congressional districts.
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger introduced a reform plan
earlier this year:
1. Create a Citizens Redistricting Commission composed of 11
independent members -- four from each of the state's two
major political parties, with the three others being
decline-to-state voters or voters with other political
affiliations.
2. Any redistricting plan must have at least one vote from
each of the two major political parties and one from an
independent or minor party.
3. The commission would be selected by random drawing by the
Fair Political Practices Commission from a pool of 55
candidates, nominated by a panel of 10 current or retired
county registrars of voters or city election clerks.
4. Anyone who has served as an elected official within the
past five years, lobbyists or those with family ties to
elected officials are not eligible to serve on the panel.
5. If the constitutional amendment to create the
redistricting commission is approved by a two-thirds
majority of the Legislature, it would go before voters.
The SWCLC will work with the Governor’s office and the state
legislature to ensure that the Lake Elsinore, Murrieta, and
Temecula business communities are engaged in policy
discussions in the coming months regarding redistricting
reform proposals.
“By
working together we can ensure pro-business candidates will
have a chance to seek office if they so desire,” explained
Dennis Frank, Chair of the SWCLC. “Competition is always a
good thing, especially when businesses can prosper,” Frank
continued.
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