Proposition 11 would transfer the power to re-draw Assembly, State Senate, and Board of Equalization district lines, once every 10 years after census data come in, from the political parties and elected officials to a 14-member citizens’ commission. The commission would be composed of 5 Democrats, 5 Republicans, and 4 others.
Columnists Daniel Brezenoff and Dennis C. Smith weigh in on Prop 11 today.
Daniel Brezenoff
What it does: Creates an unelected commission of number-crunchers to appoint an unqualified commission of citizens to redraw the legislative districts of California.
Pros: Combat gerrymandering and partisanship.
Cons: Undemocratic and experimental.
How I’m voting: No.
Drawing up districts is a job that’s always been done by elected legislators. That’s probably not the best system because they tend to distorts authentic geographical and cultural communities for the sake of their own political power and that of their parties.
But prop 11 offers a bad solution. In fact, the system it proposes has problems at every step:
1. Registered voters applying to a redistricting commission is a fine idea, but the screening process for conflicts of interest goes too far, tending to screen out anyone with political knowledge, experience, or involvement of any kind.
2. Appointing auditors to select a final panel from the citizen applicants is an anti-democratic victory for the management class. What qualifies these auditors to determine who is “most qualified”? (I can’t imagine what measurements they’d use, given that anyone with political background is screened out in advance.) What ensures that they don’t have political biases?
3. Unelected commissioners cannot be recalled. The public has no recourse in response to the new districts.
California needs a new redistricting method, but we need to get it right on the first try. We can’t try one system and then another until one sticks; that would grossly undermine a sense of fairness and coherence in our representation process. Until an alternative system is found that is more, not less, democratic than the current, flawed one, we ought to stick with what we have.
Next time, how about an election?
Will it pass? Doubtful.
Trivia: Jerry Mander is the author of “In the absence of the sacred: The Failure of Technology and the Survival of the Indian Nations” as well as “Four arguments for the elimination of television.” He was born with the name.
*
Dennis C. Smith
Prop 11: Redistricting. Initiative Constitutional Amendment and Statute. Takes the districting for state offices away from those elected under the current gerrymandered districts and puts the districting in the hands of a commission. It will not immediately impact Congressional Districts, but over time as the state districting becomes more balances so too might the Congressional Districts. Most of our state’s problems can be traced to the incredible number of safe seats we have in our state. My vote is Yes on Prop 11.
The lbpost.com does not make political endorsements. However, as elections for officials and measures draw nearer, our writers/posters are free to endorse or support political candidates if they wish. In the coming weeks, you will notice endorsements from our writers concerning all levels of government. These are their opinions and words. Individual endorsements do not express the opinion of the other writers and/or the founders and staff of the lbpost.com