We're getting a rare do-over on redistricting; don't blow it

By JOHN MICHAEL FLINT

last updated: August 06, 2008 01:04:02 AM

"There are no second acts in American lives."

-- F. Scott Fitzgerald

Three years ago, California voters turned down Proposition 77, which would have totally reformed the way our election districts are redrawn every 10 years. It was a victory for the status quo, and a stinging rebuke for Gov. Schwarzenegger, whose popularity was at a low point at the time.

We blew it. We cut off our collective nose to spite our face. Our bad.

Well, the estimable Mr. Fitzgerald notwithstanding, we're going to get a second crack at it this November. This time, it's called Proposition 11, and while there are differences in how the redistricting commission is selected (the process is too involved to explain here), it's designed to be balanced (between Democrats, Republicans, and independents) and to eliminate the most partisan ideologues from both sides.

This time around, it's not an Ahnold creation (though the Governator is a leading supporter), but was written by a director of Common Cause. It's also supported by the League of Women Voters, AARP and the National Federation of Independent Businesses (a conservative, nationwide organization.).

Originally, the measure included congressional districts as well as those for state Senate and Assembly. But House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, that font of rhetoric about political ethics, sent the Proposition 11 people a letter promising an expensive political war if they included federal districts in the measure. The threat worked, and the measure was amended to include only state districts.

Though the state Democratic Party has not, as of this writing, endorsed Proposition 11, a number of Democratic organizations have. Republicans, so far anyway, have been much more reticent.

Locally, only one elected official -- Modesto City Councilwoman Janice Keating -- is listed as having endorsed the measure.

There's currently a low awareness of Proposition 11 (though high approval among those who know about it), and a definite worry that it might get lost in the "clutter" of the November ballot -- which will include the anti-gay marriage state constitutional amendment and the local transportation tax measure, just for openers.

In 2005, after Proposition 77's defeat, I wrote that we'd thrown the baby out with the bathwater. Our dysfunctional Legislature has continued on its merry way, the members smug and secure in the knowledge that their gerrymandered districts insulate them from voter retaliation and assure the status quo.

Proposition 11 won't totally change all that -- there are no silver bullets in politics. But passing it will be a huge step in the right direction.

It is probably the most important vote you'll cast this fall.

Flint is a Modesto resident. Write him at columns@modbee.com.

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