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2008
Gerrymandering The Vote: How A “Dirty
Dozen” States Suppress As Many As 9 Million Voters
Democratic Leadership Council
June 2008
Editorial: Perata's Power Play
San Francisco Chronicle
June 30, 2008
Democrats Fear Redistricting Measure Would
Curb Their Power In State
San Francisco Chronicle
June 27, 2008
Election-Map Initiative Helps Voters, State
Progress
Sacramento Bee
June 27, 2008
Politics And California Redistricting
CaliforniaProgressReport.com
June 27, 2008
Millions On Line In Ballot Drives
Sacramento Bee
June 24, 2008
Democratic Leaders Accused Of Pressuring
Supporters Of Redistricting Measure
Contra Costa Times Sacramento Bureau
June 21, 2008
California Is Branded Among A 'Dirty
Dozen' On Gerrymandering
Los Angeles Times
June 19, 2008
Redistricting In California: Control or
Democracy?
CaliorniaProgressReport.com
June 19, 2008
Changing Method Of Redistricting Makes
Ballot
San Francisco Chronicle
June 18, 2008
Government Reformer Down On Redistricting
Initiative
PolitickerCA.com
June 18, 2008
Redistricting Initiative Makes California
Ballot
San Jose Mercury News
June 17, 2008
Democratic Party Takes Stands On Ballot
Measures
CaliforninaMajorityReport.com
June 17, 2008
Cavala: Republicans Kill Reform Bill That
Hurts GOP Chances While Democrats Support 'Reform' That Hurts Their Chances
CaliforniaProgressReport.com
June 9, 2008
Speaking With The New Speaker
Los Angeles Times
June 2, 2008
Two Plans Created To Reform Districts
Modesto Bee
May 19, 2008
New Speaker Should Focus On Public
Interest
Los Angeles Daily News
May 13, 2008
Why Schwarzenegger's Redistricting Plan
Won't Work
California Majority Report.com
May 13, 2008
Tony Quinn: Redistricting Reform OK, But
It's Only A Start
Sacramento Bee
May 11, 2008
Governor May Face Donor Fatigue
Contra Costa Times
May 11, 2008
California Redistricting Plan Faces Hurdles
Capitol Weekly
May 7, 2008
Dan Walters: Competing Proposals For Remap
Sacramento Bee
May 7, 2008
Initiative On Redistricting Closer To
Ballot
San Francisco Chronicle
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Nunez Pushes Ethics Plan As Rival Petitions
Are Filed
Sacramento Bee
May 7, 2008
To Get Leadership Reform, We First Need
Redistricting
Los Angeles Daily News
May 1, 2008
Good Intentions Could Harm Redistricting
Ballot Measure
Los Angeles Times
April 28, 2008
Redistricting On Track To Qualify,
Consultant Says
New America Foundation.com
April 23, 2008
Why Are GOP Contributors Putting Big Money
Into Redistricting Reform?
California Progress Report.com
April 19, 2008
Gov's
Giving To Remap Measure Tops $1 million
Sacramento Bee Capital Alert
April 21, 2008
‘Due
Process’ Democrats Have Their Heads Buried in the California Sand
California Progress Report.com
April 20, 2008
Opinion: Seeing The Light
Los Angeles Daily News
April 19, 2008
California
Voters FIRST Presents A Balanced And Bipartisan Effort For Redistricting
Reform
California Progress Report.com
April 17, 2008
Schwarzenegger's
Redistricting Plan Comes Under Fire
Contra Costa Times
April 17, 2008
Group Says Plan Will Put A Stop To
Gerrymandering
The Simi Valley Acron
April 4, 2008
The Need For Redistricting Reform From
This California Democrat’s Perspective
California Progress Report.com
April 4, 2008
Labor Says No To
Schwarzenegger/Republican/Common Cause Redistricting Measure
The California Majority Report.com
April 02, 2008
Revenge In Attack On Legislative
Redistricting?
California Progress Report.com
March 31, 2008
Weintraub: Governor Gets Another Shot At
Redistricting Reform
Sacramento Bee
March 30, 2008
Editorial: Can't Legislature Do Better Than
Bills On Dogs, Donkeys?
The Fresno Bee
March 30, 2008
Walters: Voters Irate At Budget Posturing
Sacramento Bee
March 28, 2008
New Foundation To Campaign For More Efficient
California Government
Sacramento Bee
March 27, 2008
Editorial: California Voters Should Support
Redistricting Ballot Measure
Fresno Bee
March 24, 2008
Editorial: Redraw the Map
Los Angeles Daily News
March 22, 2008
Walters: Court Ruling Offers Hope to
Dysfunctional California Politics
Sacramento Bee
March 19, 2008
Supreme Court to Hear Major Redistricting
Case
The Thicket at State Legislatures (ncsl.com)
March 18, 2008
Editorial: Let Citizens Redraw the Map
The Torrance Daily Breeze
March 17, 2008
Walters: Redistrict Reformers Miss Mark
Sacramento Bee
March 10, 2008
Let Citizens
Redraw Map
San Gabriel Valley Tribune
March 9, 2008
Governor Proposes Redistricting Ballot
Measure
North County Times
March 8, 2008
Redistricting Initiative Has Strong
Republican Backing
San Jose Mercury News
March 6, 2008
Governor Gathers Signatures to Qualify
Redistricting Measure
San Jose Mercury News
March 4, 2008
Manipulative Lawmakers Playing To The Crowd
Fresno Bee
February 14, 2008
State Voters Need To Do What Lawmakers
Won't
Los Angeles Daily News
February 14, 2008
Editorial: What We Need In Sacramento,
Redistricting, Not Retaliation
San Jose Mercury News
February 14, 2008
Redistricting Reform, Not Longer Terms, Is
The Answer
California Republic.org
February 12, 2008
The Buzz: A Hardball Tactic Could Ricochet
Sacramento Bee
February 11, 2008
Wake Up, Sacramento Media! Wake Up! Wake
Up! Wake Up!
San Diego Union Tribune
February 8, 2008
Editorial: Passive Aggressive Lawmakers
Just Play to the Crowd
Fresno Bee
February 8, 2008
Nunez Takes Blame For Prop. 93 Loss
Los Angeles Daily News
February 7, 2008
Weingand: Voters Got A Whiff and Said 'No'
Sacramento Bee
February 7, 2008
Lawmakers Believe In Term Limits But
Oppose The Measure
North County Times
February 4, 2008
Good For Us
Los Angeles Times
February 4, 2008
Commentary: A Conversation with Gov. Arnold
Schwarzenegger
Sacramento Bee
January 20, 2008
Walters: Two Party Structure Under Fire
Sacramento Bee
January 18, 2008
Walters: Governor's Brownian Flip-Flops
Sacramento Bee
January 16, 2008
Editorial: Corruption of a Good Idea
San Francisco Chronicle
January 15, 2008
Governor Supports Term Limit Measure
Sacramento Bee
January 15, 2008
A Deceptive Prop. 93
San Francisco Chronicle
January 10, 2008
Use Prop. 93 To Say 'No"
dailybreeze.com
January 3, 2008
more
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New Redistricting Initiative
Designed to Fail -
Courts Would Redraw Districts for 2012
By Bill Cavala
A veteran of over 30 years in Sacramento
California Progress Report.com
October 24, 2007
Common Cause and AARP (??) have joined hands to promote yet
another ballot measure that would remove redistricting from the
Legislature.
While the press corps allows any measure that removes authority
from the Legislature to be called as “reform”, this particular
proposal isn’t what it purports to be.
It establishes a “Commission” of citizens. The citizens –
or their aunts, uncles, cousins, or in-laws – may not have had any
substantive relationship with the world of politics for the
preceding 10 years. Rather they will be chosen by lot from a list of
registered voters who have voted in two of the last three elections
and who (for some reason) sign up for the job. These people would
know nothing about party politics or partisan campaigns – or they
would have been excluded from the list in the first place.
The Secretary of State would “advise” these Commissioners on
the hiring of attorneys and staff. But neither attorneys nor staff
could have any connection with the world of partisan politics either
– for 10 years preceding their appointment. This apolitical staff
would draw the Legislative districts for the decade.
The lines drawn by the staff will inevitably make things better
or worse for the Democrats and, better or worse for individual
candidates and incumbents planning to seek office in 2012.
Intense lobbying by either party and many candidates (to the
Commissioners of their own party) will follow. This lobbying will
take place publicly, but that will not lessen its vehemence. If, as
I suspect, the Commission drawn plans threaten the Democratic
majority, then the Speaker and Pro Tem will condemn it as partisan
and Republican.
Since the rules of the initiative mandate that a supermajority is
necessary to implement the plans – a supermajority containing at
least 5 Democrats – one of two things will occur. Either the
Republican Commissioners will join the minor party commissioners and
vote to implement the plan over the objections of the Democrats, or
one or more of the “independent’ Commissioners will join with
the Democrats, block the plan and send the whole thing to the Court.
Voters have said ‘no’ to involving the Court. What is it,
five times? But this initiative would send it there – ostensibly
as a last resort” – but which is really the likely option.
The alternative would be to rest redistricting with one or more
members of the Minority Parties who would apply for the Commission.
These highly ideological individuals, hardly representative of the
voters of California will constitute the “non Democrat” and
“non Republican” members of the pool from which the Commission
will be chosen. Voters who “decline to state” a party will not
apply in any number: these people are the least interested and
involved with the political system.
Will California’s voters be prepared to delegate such an
important task as Legislative Redistricting to the adherents of Leon
Trotsky or to the California Supreme Court?
Maybe, if you package it as “reform”.
Bill Cavala was Deputy Director of the Assembly Speaker’s
Office of Member Services where he worked for over 30 years.
He attended undergraduate and graduate school in the 1960’s
and received a doctorate in political science at UC Berkeley. He
taught political science at UC Berkeley during the 1970's while he
worked part-time for the State Assembly.
Cavala left teaching at UC Berkeley and went to work for
Assembly Speaker Willie Brown in 1981 until his tenure as Speaker
ended in 1995, and he has worked for his five successors as Speaker
up to and including Speaker Fabian Nunez.
Mr. Cavala manages election campaigns for Democratic
candidates.
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