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March 15, 2008
Redondo Beach Chamber
Supports Political Reform Proposal
 The
Redondo Beach Chamber of Commerce & Visitors Bureau supports
the California Voters FIRST Act proposal sponsored by
California Common Cause. The act seeks to reform the way
state senators and assembly members are elected.
Click here to
visit the California Voters FIRST Web site.
Every 10 years, after the federal government conducts a
nation-wide census, new boundary lines, or districts, are
drawn for each member of the California State Senate,
Assembly and Board of Equalization. RBCC &VB believes that
the current system of the California State Legis-lature
drawing their own district boundaries, a process known as
redistricting, is a conflict of in-terest.
The California Voters FIRST Act aims to eliminate this
conflict of interest by creating a 14-member citizen
redistricting commission. The act would create a politically
balanced commission - five democrats, five republicans, and
four individuals who are not registered with one of the two
major parties. The commissioners would then be chosen for
their impartiality, skills, and reflection of our state’s
demographic and geographic diversity.
The act would also protect communities, cities and counties
and would create a list of prioritized mapping criteria for
the Commission to follow. These criteria would ensure that
our constitution and federal and state laws are followed.
California’s communities, cities and counties must be
respected when district lines are redrawn every 10 years.
RBCC & VB believes that this is the best process and is
hoping that by supporting the proposal in the early
initiative process, more organizations and individuals will
follow suit. Once enough signatures are collected, the
California Voters FIRST Act would be placed before the
voters in November 2008.
Click here to
visit the California Voters FIRST Web site.
February 6, 2007
Redistricting is Fair
By Carleen Beste
2006 Chair of the Board
 Are
California elections fair and competitive? Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
does not think so, and many of us would agree.
The Governor has unveiled a plan to reform the highly politicized process of
drawing California’s legislative and congressional districts. The Redondo
Beach Chamber of Commerce will be tracking this issue and will be taking a
position on the Governor’s plan in the coming weeks.
Governor Schwarzenegger's current proposal was released just a little over a
year after voters rejected his previous redistricting effort that was part
of a slate of government reform measures in his 2005 special election. The
Governor will now try to solicit support from both sides of the aisle in the
hopes of making this new redistricting package work. Many who currently hold
an office have been less than enthusiastic about supporting any plans that
involve redrawing the districts. We hope that this will not keep them from
working with the Governor on his second attempt to make the process fair.
Currently, state lawmakers are responsible for drawing the state district
lines as well as the lines for the state's congressional delegation. Many
people believe that the district lines drawn in 2001 were established to
protect the incumbents of each district. The Governor recently cited that in
the past three statewide elections, only four congressional and legislative
seats changed parties. So, whether you think that the 2001 action was
intentional, or not, it certainly produced a suspicious outcome.
The detail of the Governor’s policy calls for an 11 member citizen’s
commission to oversee the drawing of district lines. The commission’s pool
of potential candidates would be nominated by various county and city
elections officials. These candidates could not have served as an elected
official within the past five years, nor be lobbyists or those with family
ties to elected officials. Any changes to the redistricting process would
need to be approved by a two-thirds majority of the legislature and be
approved by a vote of the people. It would also require a constitutional
amendment.
Qualified candidates should be able to compete for seats on an even playing
field and incumbents should not control the probability of their reelection
by determining who they represent. We must be fair to the voters.
Click here
to contact the Redondo Beach Chamber
for more
information
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