Minority Groups Fear Loss Of Power
They See Flaws In Plan To Revise Redistricting

By Jim Sanders
Sacramento Bee
October 25, 2008

For minority groups that have spent decades fighting for legislative seats, a ballot measure to dismantle California's system for drawing political districts is sparking fears of losing power.

The controversy focuses on worst-case scenarios and fine print, but it also focuses on partisan politics, since most minority groups are closely aligned with the Democratic Party, which opposes the measure.

Proposition 11 would strip the Legislature of authority to draw legislative seats � and Democrats currently dominate both the Assembly and Senate. Of 43 minority legislators, 41 are Democrats.

"I think the opponents are being led by groups and interests that feel like they've figured out how to game the system by influencing the way that incumbents draw their own lines," said Kathay Feng, Common Cause state president and a leader of Yes on 11.

Minority groups say their interests extend beyond any political party � in 2001, for example, the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund filed suit after Latino neighborhoods were split to protect three congressional Democrats.

Proposition 11 would create a commission to handle redistricting. Minority groups complain, among other things, that they are not guaranteed a seat on the panel and that there would be less flexibility to draw minority districts.

Rosalind Gold, of the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials, said the state's redistricting process needs an overhaul, but Proposition 11's "cure is worse than the disease."

"There are a number of serious flaws," said Nancy Ramirez, MALDEF attorney.

Opponents include the Asian Pacific American Legal Center and the Legislature's Black and Latino caucuses.

Feng, president of California Common Cause, said that opponents are playing on voters' fears and "every single one of those criticisms falls flat."

Bob Stern, president of the Center for Governmental Studies, which helped to draft Proposition 11, said he suspects that a driving issue for minority groups is not partisanship but fear of the unknown and comfort with existing access to legislative leaders.

"They don't know what kind of access they would have to a commission," he said.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is championing Proposition 11, which is backed by AARP, the League of Women Voters and others � including some minority groups, most prominently the state's National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, whose president, Alice Huffman, has been paid more than $100,000 in consulting fees by Yes on 11.

Proposition 11 would create a 14-member citizens commission to draw legislative and Board of Equalization seats every 10 years. Congressional districts would continue to be drawn by legislators.

The initiative was fueled partly by a deal struck by legislative leaders in 2001 to draw seats to protect incumbents. In the past two elections, not one of 120 legislative districts has changed party hands.

Proposition 11 calls for political maps to be drawn by a panel of five Democrats, five Republicans and four other voters, chosen partly at random.

Opponents counter that the initiative, regardless of its support by some Democratic leaders, is a political power grab for Republicans.

Feng said Proposition 11 has been carefully crafted to create a diverse commission, remove conflict of interest, ensure public participation, and protect communities and minority groups.

Of the Legislature's 120 seats, 28 are held by Latinos, eight by African Americans and seven by Asian Americans.

Under Proposition 11, any voter could apply for the panel. The field would be trimmed to 60 by three state auditors, of different parties, who would screen applicants for analytical skills, impartiality and "appreciation for" California's geographic and other diversity.

Legislative leaders could strike up to 24 of the 60 finalists for the commission.

Eight commissioners would then be chosen randomly, after which they would choose the remaining six commissioners, with consideration given to complementing the panel's racial, ethnic, geographic and gender diversity.

Proposition 11 requires, in drawing maps, that commissioners consider geographic proximity, neighborhoods, "communities of interest" � such as minority groups � and city and county boundaries. Where practical, Senate districts must consist of two Assembly districts.

Opponents complain that:

� A 14-member panel is too small to adequately represent the state's ethnic diversity.

� Since most minority voters are Democrats, the likelihood of minority representation is reduced when nine of 14 commission seats are reserved for voters of other parties.

� New maps would not take effect unless approved by nine of the 14 commissioners, giving a few dissidents power to deadlock the process and force maps to be drawn by the California Supreme Court, most of whose members were appointed by GOP governors.

Opponents also fear that the U.S. Supreme Court could rule in a pending case, Bartlett v. Strickland, that the Voting Rights Act does not ban the splitting of a minority district if less than 50 percent of its voting-age population is from that minority group.

If such a ruling occurs, California could voluntarily opt to preserve all its minority districts. But Proposition 11's criteria create competing obligations and grist for legal challenges, opponents contend.

Karin Mac Donald, a redistricting researcher from the Institute of Governmental Studies at UC Berkeley, said it's too soon to draw conclusions about Proposition 11's impact.

"We have no idea what the state is going to look like in two years, and how many (minority) seats you might be able to draw," she said. "All these things are hypothetical."