EDITORIAL: Supervisors, why the rush to redistrict us?

Paradise Post (CA) - Tuesday, July 19, 2011

The Butte County Board of Supervisors has made the decision on redistricting. Barring persuasive arguments by citizens at the next meeting on the issue where it will receive a final vote, Option 4 will serve as the guide for redrawing boundaries. 

Population shifts recorded in the 2010 U.S. Census necessitate redistricting at the county, state and federal levels. The county board is like the California Assembly and the U.S. House of Representatives, in that a vote in one district is supposed to count as much as a vote in another, meaning districts need to be comparable in size. Chico houses much of Butte County's population, more than just the two districts associated with it (District 2 and District 3). In order to make the five districts equal, pockets of Chico need to be apportioned elsewhere. 

District 5, which includes the Ridge, gained a sliver of East Chico bordered by the Skyway, Bruce Road and Humboldt Road. District 4, which covers the southwest part of the county, edged farther north into Chico. 

An opposition effort through the website StopWahl.org is trying to stop the final adoption of the redistricting plan. It calls the changes in Chico an attempt by District 2 Supervisor Larry Wahl to gerrymander the county to exclude liberal voters and improve his chance at reelection. StopWahl.org is trying to rally the Ridge to the cause by asserting that the new addition to District 5 "means Chico voters could control our district!" 

We're not swayed by that argument. Even with the growth predicted by StopWahl.org., the population on the Ridge still would outweigh the population in the valley's sliver by 6 to 1. The only way Chico voters would control the Ridge is by mounting a coup. 

East Chico isn't the ideal choice to bolster District 5 for other reasons, much like an area near Forest Ranch is out of place in the Paradise Recreation and Park District. Extending District 5 farther down into the Butte Valley area makes cognitive sense but doesn't address the concentration of voters in Chico. 

So, at least for the Ridge, we're not sure there's a viable alternative to what's being adopted. Then again, the supervisors didn't give alternatives much of a hearing. 

The county has a deadline of Nov. 1, yet the supes tripped over themselves to vote on redistricting last week. Dozens of people asked for a delay, but to no avail. It doesn't appear that the 2011-20 redistricting will draw the same level of opposition as the previous plan, which sparked litigation and a special election. That doesn't mean the current process deserves rave reviews. 

The right plan in July will be the right plan in September. Why the rush? Why not listen to what more citizens have to say? After all, we're the ones who have to vote in the districts that get drawn.