Redistricting maps group us with cities, not rural neighbors


By GINA ROBERTS

Valley Center is at a political crossroads like no other. As a result of the 10 year census, the districts that are represented by the various legislators in the State Assembly, State Senate and the U.S. Congress are adjusted to account for the fluctuations in the population that naturally occurs in the demographics of our communities.
It is not supposed to be a political process, California adopted an “independent” Redistricting Commission before the last Census, in order to remove politics from the process, and produce fair and equitable district maps. This process is supposed to prioritize the concept of maintaining “communities of interest” together to provide a voice for all of the populations in the districts.
This year’s process has failed miserably at this goal. Both parties and especially No Party Preference (independent) voters should be appalled at the current proposed maps for Valley Center. They seem to go out of their way to break up these communities of interest into unreasonable and outright bizarre groupings of communities. In the current maps, (all state level ones) Valley Center is removed from its rural character, separated from the surrounding tribal areas and grouped with urban communities as far away as Coronado and the Silver Strand, and the beach areas. We are not grouped with our rural neighbors, such as Pala, Pauma Valley, Palomar Mountain and Ramona, but rather, Vista, San Marcos, and San Diego City.
The rural character and the need to be allied with our rural neighbors is fundamental in keeping our community of interest together for such things as School Districts, Fire Service, and other Community Services. The needs of the more rural areas are very different from the needs of more urbanized areas. These proposed districts will dilute the ability to influence legislators to prioritize these rural area concerns over the concerns of the more densely populated urban areas that will make up the bulk of the voters in these districts. The current proposed maps can be viewed at www.wedrawthelinesca.org/
The Chambers of Commerce of Escondido and Lakeside have paid for alternative maps to be drawn that address these issues and they are considerably better than the existing maps. These maps are viewable at www.sdcountyredistrictingmap.org/. There are suggestions on that page on how to comment to the state for more fair maps to provide more appropriate representation. Please do it soon, the time is running out. Make sure your comment includes the statement: “I strongly support the maps outlined at this website: www.sdcountyredistrictingmap.org.”
This is not a partisan issue, it is a community issue, currently Valley Center stands to lose any influence it has in the governance of California, our community needs to stand together to make sure we stay the community we love.

*Note: Opinions expressed by columnists and letter writers are those of the writers and not necessarily those of the newspaper.

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