Agoura Hills Among Cities Potentially Impacted by Redistricting

With the redistricting draft plan released on Friday, the City of Agoura Hills is in brand new territory, literally.

The California Citizens Redistricting Committee—created as a result of Prop 11 from the Nov. 2008 election—announced a draft plan for redrawing electoral boundaries in California for congressional and state districts. This is done every 10 years when the census comes out, but unlike previous years when the state legislature is in charge of redistricting, the 14-person committee (5 Democrats, 5 Republicans and 4 unaffiliated) will redraw the lines per the ballot measure.

But what does that mean for cities at the edge of Los Angeles and Ventura Counties like Agoura Hills?

Currently, the 30^th district represented by Rep. Henry Waxman (D) includes many upper-class suburbs of Los Angeles, such as Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Santa Monica and Agoura Hills. That would change if the new draft is put into place. (The redistricting won’t be finalized until August 15, with public meetings scheduled throughout the state leading up to the date.)

Most of the district would remain intact but not Agoura Hills. The city would be placed into a new district that encompasses most of Ventura County, including Thousand Oaks, Camarillo and Ventura, and the citizens of Agoura Hills would be in need of a new incumbent representative.

Rep. Waxman was unavailable for comment.

The redistricting plan’s impact would not just be felt at the national-level. The districts for the California State Senate could likewise be transformed, particularly for Sen. Fran Pavley (D) and her hometown of Agoura Hills.

The 23^rd district that Pavley currently represents consists of almost the same cities as Waxman’s, in addition to Oxnard and Port Hueneme in Ventura County. According to the draft plan, the new state senate district would essentially combine the Conejo Valley and Malibu with the Santa Clarita Valley, making what is normally a Democratic stronghold much more competitive.

“These are simply the first round of draft maps and the final product could look very different,” Pavley said in a statement. “I am disappointed that under this preliminary map the Santa Monica Mountains would be split; however, the Commissioners said they are almost certain that some of the Senate district maps will change before the next round of drafts maps are released.”

Pavley, meanwhile, insisted that constituents speak out about the redistricting plan and hopefully influence any changes made before August 15.

“Individual citizens and community groups should have a strong voice in how their communities are represented,” she said. “The Commission will be holding meetings up and down the state over the next two months, and I urge everyone to submit written or verbal testimony to the Commissioners about the importance of keeping communities of interest intact.”