Our View: Redistricting commission a critical link to a working democracy

San Gabriel Valley Tribune
July 20, 2010

NO part of our democracy is safe.

As shown in our recent two-part series, California lawmakers are puppets and Sacramento lobbyists pull their strings, even telling them what legislation to write.

Locally, city councils are pushed and pulled by developers, some offering bribes, or swayed by public safety unions inflating pension costs.

In Washington, campaign contributions transform into earmarks that inflate tax bills.

But the most basic form of our government - voting - got tainted before a single ballot was even cast. The corruption began with the drawing of legislative lines by Sacramento bosses, almost always resulting in party control and safe seats for incumbents. They didn't care when the districts came out looking like a 4-year-old's Etch A Sketch screen, splitting cities and stretching across deserts and over tall mountains, as long as the politicians were safe, fat and happy.

Well, that is about to change. A redistricting commission put in motion by the voters who passed Prop. 11 in 2008 is being formed. They will redraw the lines for state Assembly, Senate and State Board of Equalization. And we are counting on them to carve out districts that make sense, are accountable to voters, keep communities together and most importantly, make elections open contests once again.

The city of Whittier could be the poster child for gerrymandering. Currently, it is chopped up into three Assembly districts, represented by Charles Calderon, D-Industry; Curt Hagman, R-Chino Hills; and Tony Mendoza, D-Norwalk.

The splits have sewn confusion into the electorate, whose members don't know who their representative is in Sacramento. It also increases the workload for cash-strapped cities and school districts, which must find the right one or two or three assemblymembers to lobby when funding is being cut or programs threatened.

That's why we were thrilled to learn that three prominent Whittier residents are vying to be chosen for the 14-member commission: Leighton Anderson, an attorney and trustee on the Whittier Union High School District; Susan Bowers, a grant writer and member of the Whittier Cultural Arts Commission; and Conny McCormack, the former Los Angeles County registrar-recorder/county clerk. In a recent column by Staff Writer Mike Sprague, Anderson said the commission is needed not just to straighten out Whittier's Assembly lines, but to restore integrity. "I think the way districts have been gerrymandered creates a polarization that has proven detrimental to governance in California," Anderson said.

McCormack, who might be the most qualified in the state to work on this problem, called the commission's potential work "ground breaking."

We agree. It is that important. So far, these three have survived the July 1 cut to 314 potential members. In August, only 120 will remain.

We sincerely hope they make the cut - or that at least one from Whittier joins the commission. The most important thing is to create a serious-minded commission with the people's interest at heart, because we want our democracy back.