GOP ‘ REDISTICTING REFORM’ WOULD RESULT IN COURT-DRAWN PLAN – A SCHEME REPEATEDLY REJECTED BY CALIFORNIA VOTERS

June 6, 2007
By Bill Cavala
A veteran of over 30 years in Sacramento

Ideally, the next set of legislative district lines would be drawn by a Republican Legislature and signed into law by a Republican Governor. This would provide the Republican Party with the ability to protect their majorities throughout the next decade – as they tried (unsuccessfully) to do in the redistricting of 1951.

Next best would be to have the California Supreme Court order redistricting to be accomplished by a Court “master” - the procedure used in 1973 and 1991.

To accomplish the former, Republicans would have to retain the office of Governor in 2010 (entirely possible) and win majorities in both houses of the Legislature (entirely
Impossible).

To obtain a Court-drawn plan appears equally unlikely – it has been rejected by voters more than any other policy proposal – most recently in 2005.

But maybe voters would accept a change that “appears” to put an “independent citizens commission” in charge while really making a court-drawn plan inevitable?

How would we accomplish this?

First, let’s make sure any successful legal challenge to our “reform” calls for Court remedies of the sort rejected by voters.

Then, let’s make sure it is almost impossible for there not to be a successful legal challenge. Let’s outlaw the selection of citizens from a pool that includes all public
Employees (excepting veterans), all persons ever paid by a campaign, political party, public official or candidate for office - including local offices unrelated to state legislative districting. Then let’s add the ex-wives of my brothers if any of them were public employees. Unconstitutionally broad? Well, our State AG’s office would opine that it is – so let’s exclude him from the process too, if the ‘independent citizens’ are so inclined.

Finally, if Republicans aren’t happy with the lines – otherwise legal – they can utilize the referendum process (as they did in 1982) and force the Court to hire masters in that fashion.

So ACA 4 by Republican leader Villines is nothing more than a crafty effort to replace the Legislature with Court Masters by tricking California’s voters into supporting
A plan they’ve already rejected on numerous occasions.

Democratic Athens used “sortition” – ruler by lot – in their governance as Villines
proposes for redistricting. After a man served his ‘term’ he was put on trial where his
Actions as a public official were judged by the people who chose to assemble. He could be given “honors” – or exiled or executed, which proved a common fate. If we are to use the ancient Greek method, perhaps we should take a leaf from their book instead of paying Commissioners $150 a day?

Bill Cavala was Deputy Director of the Assembly Speaker’s Office of Member Services where he worked for over 30 years.

He attended undergraduate and graduate school in the 1960’s and received a doctorate in political science at UC Berkeley. He taught political science at UC Berkeley during the 1970's while he worked part-time for the State Assembly.

Cavala left teaching at UC Berkeley and went to work for Assembly Speaker Willie Brown in 1981 until his tenure as Speaker ended in 1995, and he has worked for his five successors as Speaker up to and including Speaker Fabian Nunez.

Mr. Cavala manages election campaigns for Democratic candidates.