EDITORIAL POLITICAL PARANOIA ARE REDISTRICTING EFFORTS TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE?

IT might be pure paranoia, but Sacramento's politicians seem to be setting up redistricting reform for another legislative fall.

On the face of it, there's only evidence of earnest work toward getting an independent redrawing of California's political districts -- a redrawing that puts logic and communities above politics.

Both Republican and Democratic politicians have vowed to support this voter favorite, despite their general dislike of the concept since it's expected to generate more partisan competition, lead to more interesting elections and elect more moderate politicians who are not them.

Of course, part of that enthusiasm stems from the fact that current lawmakers will likely bundle any redistricting reform with term-limit extensions. As a package, it's not a bad deal for current lawmakers.

That, along with the plethora of legislative activity, bodes well for redistricting reform -- we hope.

This week, two senators proposed two different ballot measures -- SCA 9 and SCA 10 -- for two different ways of pursuing redistricting.

Bakersfield Republican Roy Ashburn came up with the first, which also throws term limits into the mix, but exempts congressional boundaries from the redistricting portion (thus avoiding a Congress-financed campaign against any ballot measure).

Then there's the better plan, SCA 10 -- a straightforward redistricting proposal that includes congressional districts. It's being sponsored by Long Beach Sen. Alan Lowenthal.

Meanwhile, Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez has a redistricting ballot measure that's set for an Assembly vote next month that gives redistricting power to the Little Hoover Commission. Under his plan, the term-limit extension would be a separate ballot measure.

With three separate redistricting proposals in the works, one might think that this year -- surely -- will be the year when some sort of proposal makes it out of the legislative session alive and before voters in February's special election.

But one would do well to consider all the many attempts at redistricting reform that have been on the ballot, including in 2004, and all the failures.

Just last year, redistricting reform looked like it had finally come to pass when the Assembly and Senate compromised on a deal. But that measure died when Senate leader Don Perata closed the session early -- and that was that.

With this kind of history, redistricting reform will continue to seem too good to be true until proved otherwise.