Nuñez redistricting a sham

By Earl Ofari Hutchinson

Date: 09/08/2007

At first glance, California Assembly Speaker Fabian Nuñez's proposal to redraw state voting districts seems light-years better than the way he and his chums in the Legislature have handled redistricting in years past. But under closer examination, it's just more of the same.

Currently, the state's political leaders assign themselves the sole right to redraw the lines. This is tantamount to posting Jesse and Frank James at the door of a bank vault and trusting them to make sure the money stays safe. The predictable has happened, namely California 's safe Republican and Democratic districts have remained just as safe and noncompetitive. And the Legislature has remained just as fractious, combative and paralyzed by gridlock.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, public-interest groups and thousands of voters have screamed foul and demanded that Nuñez and the Sacramento gang come up with something that would bring at least a smidgen of democracy back to the state's political process. On paper anyway, Nurez's plan seems to have done this.

Under the plan, a panel chosen by the governor, judges and the Legislature would draw up political boundaries. The 17-member panel would be picked from a pool of dozens of candidates. They can't be present or recent past elected officials, state officeholders, party bosses or paid lobbyists.

Nuñez's plan is a variation on the model of the independent commission concept that 12 other states rely on to redraw legislative district lines. The idea is that independent commissions have no direct ties to partisan Democratic and Republican elected officials, and therefore are totally free of the taint of cronyism, political partisanship and infighting.

Independent panel-drawn districts, in turn, would make elections more competitive and give multiple candidates - no matter what their party affiliation - a real shot at winning. The more wistful even say that balanced districts are a giant step toward breaking the tight control that corporate and labor political action committees and big-cash donors have in politics.

That's a big stretch of a wish. Even in the most competitive districts, incumbents are generally flush with campaign cash, have name recognition, and have a lock on their party's backing. This still gives them a colossal edge. Yet studies have shown that districts drawn up by independent commissions are fairer, more balanced and make races if not competitive, at least more interesting.

But here's the sneaky kicker: In the Nuñez plan, eight of the commissioners would be hand-picked by "legislative leaders." Translated, that means Nuñez. The redistricting plan that the panel comes up with would require approval by two-thirds - 12 - of the 17 commissioners.

One doesn't have to be a math whiz to figure that if eight of the commissioners are hand-picked by the "legislative leaders," they would hardly be inclined to draw lines that don't conform to the wishes of their legislative patrons. And since they make up three-fourths of the 12 commission votes needed to get final approval of any redistricting plan, the betting odds are that the redrawn district lines would be just as tight, politically partisan and safe as the districts are now.

Packing the panel with commissioners likely to reflect the will of the state Legislature guarantees that the commission will be embroiled in the same disruptive partisan squabbles. In other words, the commission would be independent in name only. Redrawn districts that simply mirror the old calcified districts California is currently stuck with would be a sham and a fraud.

The only good thing about Nuñez's plan is that he recognizes that the voters don't trust legislators to do the job of redistricting. But that's as far as it goes. Nu ez's sleight-of-hand plan is designed to ensure that the Legislature keeps a subtle, but firm control over redistricting.

Schwarzenegger has repeatedly demanded that the Legislature come up with a plan to make voting districts fair and balanced. His goal is to end the Maginot Line that now divides hard-core Democrats and Republicans in the Legislature.

This division has resulted in endless delays and protracted battles over the budget and other hot-button measures. And the need for a more cooperative Legislature is more than reason enough for Schwarzenegger to demand that Nuñez go back to the drawing board and come up with a plan for a truly independent commission.

Given the dogged determination of Nuñez and the Legislature to do anything and everything to keep their seats and power, Nuñez will likely bull ahead this ploy and try to dump it on the ballot in February 2008. If that happens, California 's voters should decisively reject the Nuñez plan.

At least, they should if they truly want competitive districts that give them a real say-so over who sits in Sacramento .