Drive 30 minutes from Hollister to Morgan Hill and you’ll pass
through four Congressional districts: Sam Farr’s in San Benito
County, Mike Honda’s in Gilroy, Zoe Lofgren’s in San Martin, and
Richard Pombo’s in Morgan Hill.
Drive 30 minutes from Hollister to Morgan Hill and you’ll pass through four Congressional districts: Sam Farr’s in San Benito County, Mike Honda’s in Gilroy, Zoe Lofgren’s in San Martin, and Richard Pombo’s in Morgan Hill.
While Farr’s district is an almost square shape encompassing Santa Cruz to south of King City, those of Honda, Lofgren and Pombo are highly irregular in shape and appear to make no sense to many residents.
California reassesses its 173 legislative and congressional districts after every census, redrawing boundaries and shifting representatives’ areas according to population changes nationwide. A state Senate committee collects public opinion and draws the lines, then presents the new maps to the Legislature for approval.
“The redistricting process is the worst example of conflict of interest I’ve seen in my 11 years in the Legislature,” said Bruce McPherson, retiring 15th district state Senator. “People draw their own lines to protect their own districts.”
McPherson, a Republican, said he voted for the districting plan only because he feared worse division if he did not.
State Senate and Assembly districts used to be “nested,” McPherson said, making “communities of interest.” The current 15th district includes parts of only two Assembly districts. The new 15th state Senate district was completely changed and now ranges from Santa Maria to Los Gatos, bypassing Gilroy and San Martin but including Morgan Hill.
“Now, the 15th Senate district has parts of seven Assembly districts,” he said. “People say you can have an impact on diverse areas but, let’s get real; it’s much easier to concentrate your effort when you have a cohesive unit.”
Pombo, R-Tracy, represents a huge, sprawling, disjointed district that reaches from just south of Sacramento to the San Benito County line and north along the Highway 680 corridor to include Danville and reaches over to Morgan Hill, but not San Martin or Gilroy.
Until district lines were redrawn in 2001, Pombo’s district was entirely in the Central Valley, with a highly agricultural population and little high-tech business. Morgan Hill and Central Valley voters, according to past voting results, tend toward different perspectives on the core issues of water use, transportation, gun control, environmental protection and reproductive choice.
Honda, (D-Campbell) and Lofgren’s districts predominantly encompass San Jose, which has similar interests to Gilroy and San Martin.
Honda said he misses representing Morgan Hill and San Martin. “But I’m making lemonade out of lemons,” Honda said. “I share information and engage Pombo and Zoe Lofgren on everything we do.”
Honda said one good thing emerging from redistricting is that Morgan Hill (and South Valley) has three members of Congress working for them instead of just one.
Lofgren echoed Honda’s experience.
“Whether in the heart of the city of San Jose or in more rural areas such as San Martin, I do my best to work on all issues affecting the 639,000 constituents in my district, and to represent their concerns in Congress,” Lofgren said this week.
After living for two years with the new Assembly and Congressional boundaries, Morgan Hill Mayor Dennis Kennedy hasn’t changed his opinion that fragmented districts are bad.
James Brent, associate professor of political science at San Jose State, said there is a tentative plan for change.
“The governor (Arnold Schwarzenegger) talked about a panel of judges,” Brent said. “There would have to be a ballot initiative because I don’t think the Legislature would ever put anything on the ballot.”
Brent doesn’t hold out much hope, though, since, except in places like Morgan Hill, there isn’t much passion about the topic.
“It’s an esoteric subject,” he said, “but it could happen, with the governor out in front … .”
Assemblyman Simon Salinas, who also voted for the new districts, agrees about the panel.
“It has to be done properly,” said Salinas, a Democrat whose district includes Gilroy and Hollister, “which means a panel of truly impartial arbiters, carving up the state in a fair and objective way.”
McPherson said he has been calling for the redistricting process to be taken off the Legislature’s hands for 15 or 20 years, since he was editor of the Santa Cruz Sentinel newspaper.
To view maps, go to www.calvoter.org/voter/maps.
