Posted on 09/11/2001 6:26:48 AM PDT by boris
Under heavy pressure from a Democratic congressman and Latino civic leaders, a state redistricting panel on Monday released a new proposal that radically changes the proposed boundaries of new House districts in the San Fernando Valley.
Rep. Brad Sherman, D-Woodland Hills, said Monday he was not completely satisfied with the revised proposal but was resigned to accept it. Sherman had voiced outrage over the previous plan released last week and spent time in Sacramento protesting to state lawmakers who will vote on it.
"Under the time constraints, and given the complexity of the law, this is the best that can be done," Sherman said through aide Matt Farrauto.
The state Legislature has until it adjourns on Friday to approve a redistricting plan and pass it on to the governor for consideration. If no proposal is approved, the lines would be determined by a federal court.
Under the previous plan, a large portion of Latino communities including San Fernando, Pacoima and Panorama City -- would have been added to Sherman's district by shifting those neighborhoods away from the Valley district of a fellow Democrat, Rep. Howard Berman, D-Mission Hills.
Berman would have gained some predominantly white neighborhoods in Sherman Oaks and Burbank.
The new plan would add parts of such communities as Mission Hills, Sylmar, Lake View Terrace, Sunland, Tujunga, and Burbank to Sherman's district. The plan also would renumber the 24th and 26th districts the 27th and 28th districts, respectively.
The changes would lower the current 65 percent Latino population in Berman's district to 54 percent, and would reduce the Latino percentage of registered voters from 39 percent to 27 percent.
The changes would raise the Latino population in Sherman's district from the current 20 percent to 36 percent.
Latino groups, including the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund and the Mexican American Political Association, said they plan to sue to stop the changes. "We're asking state legislators to reject the plans, and if not we're going to court," said Antonio Gonzalez, president of the William C. Velasquez Institute, a national nonprofit research group. "It's very clear that they're trying to pass the hot potato of growth in the Latino community . ... They just can't do that."
Berman said he was satisfied with both the old and new redistricting plans.
"I think both of us can represent these districts very well," Berman said. "This plan helps secure some of the marginal Democratic districts."
Democrats are aiming to add a congressional seat for their party in Southern California based on new U.S. census figures that will determine political districts for the next decade.
But some said that while Berman has worked well with the Latino community, the issue is that splitting the Latino voting bloc would violate the Voting Rights Act.
"If Howard thinks those numbers are good enough to placate us, then he doesn't know his constituency very well," said Xavier Flores, vice president of the San Fernando Valley MAPA. "We won't accept anything less that what we already had."
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Elected members of the state Legislature and precious incumbent congressmen and congresswomen are breathing heavily at the prospect of taking advantage of a helpless Hispanic population. It is called gerrymandering for partisan purposes.
Let's look at what the Assembly and state Senate Democrats propose to do to the Hispanic population of California, a population that amounts to 32 percent of state residents: Almost half of the Senate districts 18 of the proposed 40 - will have smaller percentages of Hispanics than in the past 10 years. The losses range from 0.05 to 16.92 percent, with eight having losses higher than 4 percent. Are Hispanics expected to elect more Hispanic state senators under this plan? No. An example is the 23rd Senate District where 10.86 percent of new Hispanics have moved into the district, bringing the district's population to 10 percent Hispanic. This is enough to make the district safe for Democrats but not enough for Hispanics to win in a Democratic primary.
In the only good example of Hispanic gain, the 40th District adds Imperial Valley and the Coachella Valley -- by a 60-mile, hundred-yard corridor -- to San Diego's South Bay. The plan takes 16.92 percent of Hispanics away from geographically contingent areas and adds 17 percent to a district tailor-made for Denise Moreno Ducheny, former member of the Assembly.
The district looks like a 150-mile U separating San Diego Bay and the Colorado River.
In the Assembly, the Legislature has produced districts that lose Hispanic population in 41 of the 80 Assembly seats. That is a remarkable feat.
The Legislature's real attack on Hispanics comes in the new congressional districts it proposes. More than half or 29 -- of the proposed 54 California congressional districts will lose Hispanic population under this plan -- another remarkable feat. The losses range from 0.13 percent to 24.64 percent.
The most egregious Hispanic loss comes in Democratic incumbent Howard Berman's 26th Congressional District, where he loses 24.64 percent of his Hispanic population, with almost all being transferred to Adam Schiff s district. This transfer is designed to protect Berman from future challenges by successful Hispanic Democratic politicians such as Assemblyman Tony Cardenas, L.A. City Councilman Alex Padilla and state Sen. Richard Alarcon.
The second most egregious loss comes in moving 15 percent of Hispanics from Duncan Hunter's 52nd District into Susan Davis' 49th District, enlarging her swing district's Democratic registration by adding 17.6 percent more Hispanics. This move is the direct opposite of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund's plan, which would have added Imperial Valley to Mary Bono's district in the Coachella Valley and thus united a substantial Hispanic population whose similar characteristics could result in a Hispanic elected to Congress.
The so-called creation of a Hispanic district in Los Angeles by the Legislature is a sop to Hispanics who value their partisanship more than their community although it pretty much sets up former mayoral candidate Antonio Villaraigosa or state Sen. Richard Polanco to run for the new seat.
MALDEF is now talking about filing a lawsuit against the Legislature because it feels the Legislature has violated the federal Voting Rights Act by slicing-and-dicing the Hispanic population in such a way as to do permanent damage to their right to elect representatives of their choice. They are not alone. Orange County's LULAC (League of United Latin American Citizens) joins the fray, decrying how Orange County districts are being drained of Hispanics to shore up Los Angeles Democratic incumbents at the expense of Orange County Hispanics.
In Los Angeles, a California Redistricting Commission made up of veteran Democratic Hispanic politicos also feels the Legislature has violated the Voting Rights Act: The commission says it will register a complaint with the U.S. Department of Justice. As to whether it joins the MALDEF lawsuit, the guess is that their Democratic loyalties will overcome their professed passion for Hispanic representation in the Legislature and Congress.
MALDEF, on the other hand, has restated its view that the two new congressional seats of Berman and Bono are grounds for a lawsuit under Section 2 of the federal Voting Rights Act. It appears that MALDEF will file a lawsuit over the congressional districts. I don't see any compromise between parties here. They also might file on the Assembly and Senate plans.
Someone needs to openly challenge the Legislature on the plans to redistrict the state. Be it MALDEF or LULAC or just plain citizens -- someone must.
Hispanics are being redistricted to protect Democratic non-Hispanic elected officials, but in the process they lose not only power but the ability to elect one of their own -- or to influence Republican representatives who feel no obligation to their districts' small number of Hispanics. That may cause celebration in the offices of Democratic congressmen Howard Berman, Adam Schiff, Maxine Waters, Dianne Watson and Susan Davis, but it brings no joy in the homes of a couple of million or so Hispanics who basically have been disenfranchised by the Legislature.
"Raoul Lowery Contreras is a columnist based in San Diego. Write to him in care of Daily News Opinions, P. O. Box 4200, Woodland Hills. CA 91365-4200."
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