District Lines

Although promising a redistricting plan that is fair to both parties and maximizes the power of ethnic minorities, Assembly Speaker Willie Brown conceded Thursday that the desires of incumbent lawmakers will come first as the Assembly draws new district lines for the 1992 elections. Brown's comments drew quick criticism from representatives of groups that have been monitoring the redistricting process.

There wasn't much mystery last week about who would be elected to the state Legislature or California's delegation to the U.S. House of Representatives. Party leaders in the Legislature stacked the deck last year when they drew new district lines to reflect population shifts on the basis of the 2000 census. Those 153 districts were carved into enclaves of heavy Democratic and Republican voter registration to provide "safe" seats.

Explosive population growth in Southern California could give Latinos a potential voting majority in four new congressional districts, three in the state Senate and seven in the state Assembly, representatives of Latino organizations told a legislative committee Saturday. Asian-Pacific American groups also argued for a bigger role in California government on the basis of a 119% increase in population in Los Angeles County during the 1980s, to 955,000.

A federal judge on Thursday gave Los Angeles County supervisors 20 days to redraw district lines to remedy years of discrimination against Latinos. U.S. District Judge David V. Kenyon ordered supervisors to submit for his approval a redistricting plan that would help the first Latino to win a seat on the five-member board. If the county fails to draft an acceptable plan by June 27, the judge said he will prepare his own.

For eight years last decade, California had democracy. Voters had a real say in who they wanted to represent them in Sacramento and Washington. Then state legislators stepped in and fixed the system to spare incumbents the inconvenience of having to worry much about challengers stepping in and taking their seats.

The House of Representatives is the house of extremes -- the least representative political body in the world's major democracies. There is no room for diversity of opinion. And it will stay that way. Of the 435 House elections Tuesday, only about four dozen are remotely competitive. Not one of California's 51 House incumbents is in danger of losing his or her seat.

A remarkable ailment is afflicting the Los Angeles County supervisors' side in the Voting Rights Act trial at the downtown federal courthouse. The ailment is a form of amnesia, peculiar to witnesses friendly to the supervisors. You might call it selective amnesia. The witnesses haven't forgotten everything. They remember their own names, occupations and other vital information.

The Los Angeles City Council voted Friday to override Mayor Tom Bradley's veto of a redistricting plan bitterly opposed by San Fernando Valley residents. However, although the new district lines become effective immediately, the issue may not be settled. Councilman Ernani Bernardi said he will lead a drive to bring an initiative before the voters to repeal the plan.

Los Angeles' Redistricting Commission unveiled its proposed boundary changes for City Council seats Wednesday, setting the stage for a series of pitched battles over neighborhood identity, ethnic clout and raw political power. The maps sent one council district deeper into the San Fernando Valley, pulled another completely out of it and, in a third, employed what Councilman Bill Rosendahl called an "outrageous case of gerrymandering. " Politicians, community advocates and neighborhood leaders quickly criticized the maps, saying they did not reflect the public testimony and community desires expressed at a series of hearings in recent weeks.

When the California Legislature redraws the lines of legislative districts after each census, the state Constitution demands that "the geographical integrity of any city, county or city and county, or of any geographical region shall be respected to the extent possible." In other words, districts should be "compact." California's adherence to this constitutional rule is laughable. Look at the 14th State Senate District, as drafted in 2001.