Redistricting Workshop Outlines Possible Changes

The hosted a redistricting workshop at the Maidu Public Library Monday afternoon to discuss and present drafts of the current borders for the Senate, Congressional, Assembly and Board of Equalization district lines being redrawn.

For Roseville, this could mean a divide between Roseville and Auburn in regards to the Assembly District lines. For the Congressional District, the proposed map shows Roseville and Auburn within one district. 

The final redistricting draft is said be finished July 28. It will then be submitted Aug. 15 for final legislative approval.

Based off the Voters FIRST Act passed in the 2008 general election, the legislature no longer provides an outline of the borders or districts. A 14-member commission known as the Citizens Redistricting Commission (CRC) is appointed to assess and produce any changes.

The lines are redrawn every 10 years after a census has been taken. Since January of 2011, the CRC has been redrawing the various district lines to meet one goal - that every district have roughly the same population. 

District lines are redrawn to account largely for population changes but also location developments, community growth, infrastructure development, and other similar factors.

Held in the public meeting room, the redistricting workshop was an in-depth and intimate presentation from the Sacramento Area Redistricting Assistance Site, a group indirectly linked to the commission.

Robin Evans, a representative of the Sacramento Area Redistricting Assistance Site, said their presentations were “to promote discussion and provide information.”

Monday's workshop presented the 2^nd draft of proposed district changes. They were released earlier this month by the CRC. The 1^st draft was released in June.

Only three community members attended the workshop. Attendees raised many issues they saw in the proposed changes. From rural differences, an association with Sacramento, the disconnect with local communities to the north, and other concerns, were addressed in relation to the redrawn district lines.

Mark Wolinski, Government Relations Representative with the City of Roseville, said “it may make it difficult in meeting challenges with our city and region in common, rather than being faced with issues that directly effect us.”

He noted that with the dramatic changes being proposed, “the reason this is problematic is that over the years we've had long-standing relations being built around issues and concerns that we've worked on with our neighbors to the north.”

These changes may effect such things as roads, air quality and issues with Interstate 80.

CRC is accepting local and community input on the district sites. The last date to send suggestions, concerns, or comment is July 27.

A few websites provide more information and an overview of the proposed drafts, including wedrawthelines.ca.gov and redistrictinggroup.org.