EDITORIAL POLITICAL FAIR SHARE.

IN the ongoing debate about whether, how and when California should go about redrawing its legislative districts, the focus has been on shaking up the power structure.

``Safe'' Democratic or Republican seats, the argument goes, calcify power and lead to obstruction in Sacramento. Better to make the parties fight it out for the people's support.

All of which is true, but there's a second, just as critical component of redistricting that too often goes overlooked - empowering communities.

In a Tuesday address before visiting members of the Valley Industry and Commerce Association in Washington, D.C., Rep. Brad Sherman made the important case that whenever redistricting happens, the representation of the San Fernando Valley must be strengthened.

Under the current system of divvying up districts for Congress and the state Senate and Assembly, communities of interest are sacrificed for partisan advantage. The result is bizarrely shaped districts that snake through far-flung Southern California locales that have little in common in terms of culture, economics or local concerns.

As Sherman, a Sherman Oaks Democrat, observes, the Valley has suffered under this arrangement for decades, with leaders who must divide their loyalty between separate communities. But the Valley is its own, coherent community of interest. It deserves its own representation.

Sherman argues that when redistricting takes place, two state Senate and four Assembly seats should fall entirely within the Valley, and he's right. Redistricting must do more than just break up the gridlock in Sacramento. It must give communities an authentic voice.