DISTRICTS OF DYSFUNCTION NEW BOUNDARIES A POLITICAL SHAME.Byline: Al Sheahen Local View The redistricting redistricting: see legislative apportionment. of our Assembly, Senate and congressional districts should outrage us. While most Californians were preoccupied with the tragic events of Sept. 11, the state Legislature A state legislature may refer to a legislative branch or body of a political subdivision in a federal system. The following legislatures exist in the following political subdivisions: The first rule of redistricting should be: All voters in a city or community should be in the same district. Yet under the approved plan, if you live in Van Nuys, you could be in the 40th, 42nd or 43rd Assembly District. If you live in Sherman Oaks, you could be in the 21st or 23rd Senate District. If you live in Encino, you could be in the 27th or 28th Congressional District. Other communities with split districts include Reseda, Tarzana, Studio City, Toluca Lake, Sun Valley, Sunland, Tujunga, Glendale, Burbank and Simi Valley Simi Valley (sē`mē, sĭm`ē), city (1990 pop. 100,217), Ventura co., SW Calif. in an oil, fruit, and farm region; laid out 1887, inc. 1969. . Beyond the Valley, dozens of other communities - such as Monterey Park Monterey Park, city (1990 pop. 60,738), Los Angeles co., S Calif., a growing residential suburb of Los Angeles; inc. 1916. It is a wholesale, retail, and financial services center. , South Pasadena South Pasadena (păs'ədē`nə), city (1990 pop. 23,936), Los Angeles co., S Calif., a residential suburb of Los Angeles; inc. 1888. Medical supplies, clothing, and transportation and electronic equipment are manufactured. and Riverside - are also split. It is outrageous for neighbors from the same community - who share common interests - to be split into two or three districts. It is destructive to the democratic process to have people who belong to the same church, Rotary Club or homeowners association represented by different legislators. It is unconscionable Unusually harsh and shocking to the conscience; that which is so grossly unfair that a court will proscribe it. When a court uses the word unconscionable to describe conduct, it means that the conduct does not conform to the dictates of conscience. for politicians to show utter contempt for the people in a cynical attempt to protect incumbents, reward political allies and punish political opponents in a public-be-damned approach. No wonder people are turned off by politics. No wonder only 51 percent of eligible voters cast ballots last year. No wonder people have no idea what district they're in or who their representatives are. And if they do know, it changes every 10 years. Even when all residents of a city are in the same district, they are often lumped with another city with no common interests. In the 22nd Senate District, South Pasadena is lumped with the manufacturing areas of Alhambra and Central Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. , instead of with its northern residential neighbors, Pasadena and Altadena, in the 21st. In the 21st Senate District, Valley Village is combined with Glendale and Burbank. They've been fighting each other for years over airport noise. In the 37th Assembly District, Ojai and Santa Paula are separated from their common neighbor, Santa Barbara, in the 35th. In the 23rd Senate District, residents of Oxnard and Port Hueneme are lumped in with the San Fernando Valley San Fernando Valley Valley, southern California, U.S. Northwest of central Los Angeles, the valley is bounded by the San Gabriel, Santa Susana, and Santa Monica mountains and the Simi Hills. and separated from their natural neighbors, Ventura and Santa Barbara, in the 21st. Asian-American communities in the western San Gabriel Valley The San Gabriel Valley is one of the principal valleys of southern California. It lies to the east of the city of Los Angeles, to the north of the Puente Hills, to the south of the San Gabriel Mountains, and to the west of the Inland Empire. are cut up into four Senate districts and three congressional districts. Look at the 38th Assembly District. Its squiggly squig·gle n. A small wiggly mark or scrawl. intr.v. squig·gled, squig·gling, squig·gles 1. To squirm and wriggle. 2. To make squiggles. lines would be a joke if it weren't so serious. It's 70 miles from the western end of the 38th in Simi Valley to the eastern end in Tujunga. In between is the 39th Assembly District. It looks like a jigsaw puzzle. The 29th Senate District is even worse. It gerrymanders from La Crescenta in the west to Placentia in the east. A straight line from those two cities goes, incredibly, through five other Senate districts - the 21st, 22nd, 24th, 30th and 33rd. Brad Sherman's revised congressional district is the shape of a horseshoe, with Howard Berman's district sandwiched in between. In the Sunland-Tujunga area, one side of Foothill Boulevard is in Sherman's district; the other side is in Berman's. If the governor signs this plan, citizens who have built relationships over the years with their legislators will have to start over with someone new. Representatives who have spent years learning the problems of their districts will be thrown into new, unfamiliar territory; they won't know the character, culture or needs of their new constituencies. As a result, we'll see less democracy, a continued decline in voting, and more disillusionment Disillusionment Adams, Nick loses innocence through WWI experience. [Am. Lit.: “The Killers”] Angry Young Men disillusioned postwar writers of Britain, such as Osborne and Amis. [Br. Lit. with politics. Some things should be beyond deal- making, protecting incumbents and expediency. This plan is broken. It is bad government, bad policy and bad democracy. The governor should refuse to sign it. He should send it back to the Legislature to redraw To redisplay an image on screen whether text or graphics. The concept is that the first time elements are displayed, they are "drawn," and if something is changed, they are "redrawn." Applications often have a Refresh command that redraws the screen. the lines so that communities of interest are maintained and that all voters in a city or community are in the same district. |
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