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Disenchanted with state? Apply here

By James E. Canales

Voters are disenchanted. They’re alienated from a government that too seldom consults them and is struggling to adequately provide the services that we used to take for granted. But Californians are also ready to respond if they know their contribution will count. A historic opportunity is before them. This year, for the first time in California, citizens will control a process at the core of representative government.

Redistricting, a long-cherished prerogative of the Legislature and partisan insiders, has been turned over to California’s voters. The maps that define the 40 Senate and 80 Assembly districts will be prepared by an independent panel of 14 members, the Citizens Redistricting Commission. Instead of creating partisan clusters or designing safe seats for favored incumbents, the commissioners will strive for districts that respect communities and enhance their voices in Sacramento.

The commission will be chosen from a pool of public-spirited applicants who enlist in the cause of reform. They need not be experts in geography or demographics, just thoughtful citizens willing to devote time and energy to making government work for all of us. They should come from all walks of life, all parts of the state, all ethnic backgrounds.

Many have stepped forward already, but more candidates are needed – particularly from communities that often have been underrepresented at the state policymaking table.

Proposition 11, passed in November 2008, rewrote the redistricting rules. Now, for the commission to justify the faith of the voters, it must not only be politically independent, it must also be broadly representative.

Unfortunately, as the Friday application deadline approaches, the pool of candidates is looking a lot like California government in years gone by – too few women and minorities.

While fewer than half the state’s residents are white, nearly three quarters of the applicants are. Seventy percent of applicants are men. Just over 10 percent are Latinos, who are more than a third of California’s population. Asians are less than 5 percent of applicants and 12 percent of residents. Among nonwhites, only African Americans have been applying in proportion to their share of the population.

For Southern California, there’s a worrisome geographic disparity as well. Fifty-five percent of the state’s residents live in the six southernmost counties, but fewer than 40 percent of the applicants do. San Diego County is represented by only 6 percent of the applicant pool even though it is home to 8 percent of the state’s residents. Read More.