Editorial:
The San Diego County Board of Supervisors has had the pleasure and convenience of drawing up their own district every ten years, ensuring themselves of safe districts. As a result, each member of the Board has served in excess of 20 years, with none ever facing any threat of losing an election. Even supervisor Bill Horn, with his numerous of misjudgments, missteps, questions of ethics and morals, and a decidedly anti-Hispanic agenda has safely won every election because of his safe district.
It has only been in recent redistricting years that an advisory board has been a part of the process. Despite the advisory board’s advocacy, during the last redistricting cycle, there was noticeable apathy from the community. Very few community members spoke up or participated at the meetings because they felt that it was a foregone conclusion that the Supervisors would follow their historical pattern and would draw up districts that best suited their needs.
Originally, the redistricting map maintained the status quo for the Supervisors. This changed when the American Civil Liberties Union threatened a lawsuit due to a violation of the Voting Rights Act. County Supervisor Greg Cox stepped forward with a recommendation that a new map be created with a minority majority district as defined by the Voting Rights Act. This new map was adopted on September 27.
On Tuesday, Sept. 11, Supervisor Cox will recommend to the Board that an Independent Redistricting Commission for San Diego County be established. Cox recommends that the new commission should take the responsibility out of the hands of the Board and put it in the hands of retired judges.
We wholeheartedly agree with Cox’s recommendation. This step is long overdue. Redistricting has been a partisan practice for far too long, one which has been used to deny fair and competitive districts, and used only to ensure safe districts for incumbents.
We would like to see one change in the recommendation: the recommendation that retired judges should be selected to be the members of the new redistricting commission. We see this as limiting the pool of eligible minority candidates and not reflecting a broad base of the community. We would be happier with a mix of judges, community members, and Board appointees for example. Other than that we hope the rest of the Board sees the wisdom of taking the process out of their hands and putting the redistricting process into the hands of the community where it belongs.
It should be noted that even though the board will vote on Supervisor Cox’s recommendation to create an independent panel, it’s not something that will automatically happen. There has to be a change in state law. The first step of many steps will require County staff to come up with a recommendation on how to create an independent panel. This will get the ball rolling which will eventually end with a change in the law. Thankfully there is an eight year window to accomplish this goal.