Editorial: Census consensus: Big changes ahead

The Sacramento Bee
Mar. 10, 2011

The numbers are in, so now the nitty-gritty work of drawing new election districts can begin. Looking at the 2010 census data released Tuesday, that task will not be easy, either statewide or in Sacramento.

The figures confirm a seismic shift in California's population from the coast eastward to the Sacramento region, the Central Valley and the Inland Empire in Southern California. While the state's population as a whole grew by 10 percent since the last census in 2000, inland counties grew far faster than coastal ones. Sacramento-area counties grew by a combined 20 percent.

The political consequences could be sweeping. Democratic-leaning areas will lose seats to traditionally Republican bastions, though that impact will likely be muted because many new Californians are Latinos who tend to vote Democratic.

This time, there's a wild card in the mix – the new Citizens Redistricting Commission. Created by voters, the panel will pull double duty. Proposition 11 in 2008 gave it the job of redrawing districts for the Legislature and the Board of Equalization. The passage of Proposition 20 in November added the state's congressional districts to its workload.

The panel has until Aug. 15 to finish its work. Despite the tight time-table, committee members Stanley Forbes of Sacramento and Angelo Ancheta of San Francisco told The Bee's editorial board this month that transparency and public input will be paramount in the process.

Another priority should be to create more competitive districts that aren't gerrymandered into safe seats for one party or another. To see what's wrong with the current districts, you need look no further than Tuesday's special election in GOP-friendly Assembly District 4. While Democrat Dennis Campanale was the top vote-getter, he will almost certainly lose to second-place finisher Beth Gaines in the May 3 runoff. Her primary qualifications seem to be that she's a Republican and she's the spouse of Ted Gaines, who held the seat before winning a special election for a state Senate seat in January.

Local districts across the state will also need to be redone.

The release of census data started the six-month clock running for the city of Sacramento. The official numbers show that the population differences among the eight City Council districts are even larger than those based on 2009 projections. That likely means even more significant changes in district lines.

This time, there will be even more opportunity for input with a citizens advisory committee that will start meeting next month.

Lots of us interested in politics complain that our votes don't really matter because election districts are rigged.

If you want to change that, now's the time to step up.

TO GET INVOLVED

• Sacramento: Go to www.cityofsacramento.org/ redistricting.

• Statewide: Go to www.wedrawthelines.ca.gov.

• The University of California, Berkeley, is hosting workshops and opening regional assistance centers for those interested in legislative districts. In Sacramento, the first workshop is 1-4 p.m. Saturday at the Central Library, 828 I Street, also home to the technical center.

For more information, go to http://swdb.berkeley.edu.