THE BIGGEST ISSUE that separates old-time politicians from reformers is legislative redistricting. It's a topic that endlessly bores the public but is eternally fascinating to political insiders. The fact is that whoever draws the boundaries of legislative districts determines the result on Election Day. It's akin to fixing a horse race.

Voting makes no difference if the lines are drawn by a computer-savvy political pro who controls the makeup of the jurisdiction's electorate. Massachusetts' post Revolutionary War Gov. Elbridge Gerry pioneered the concept. The current California Legislature perfected the trick.

The antidote is Proposition 11 on November's ballot. The initiative creates a nonpartisan legislative redistricting mechanism in time for the next scheduled reapportionment of the Assembly and Senate in 2011.

Talia Hart, the San Rafael Chamber of Commerce's chief executive officer, got it right when she said, "The issue is pretty simple. Proposition 11 is a referendum on the effectiveness of our legislature."

If voters conclude that the Legislature is doing a fine job preparing the state for 21st century problems, then Proposition 11 is counterproductive. For those believing that our state's government is incapable of addressing the critical issues that Californians face, then passage of Proposition 11 is essential.

The present scheme of drawing legislative boundaries is an example of political corruption.


After the 2000 census, Democratic and Republican leaders cynically devised a scheme benefiting incumbents of both parties. Democrats were guaranteed a 10-year California legislative majority and Republican incumbents were immunized them from electoral challenge.

The method used to accomplish this dubious goal was that each legislative district was effectively assigned in advance to one of the two major parties. Then all that matters in each district is the majority party's primary election.

We witnessed that in June. The focus was on who would secure the Democratic nomination in our Marin-Sonoma-San Francisco Third Senate District. When Mark Leno won the Democratic nod, it was clear his victory over his GOP challenger in November, Sashi McEntee, was a mere formality.

The reality is that the extreme wings of both parties play a proportionally greater role in primaries than in general elections. The upshot is that since primaries in solidly one-party districts produce far left Democrats and far right Republicans, the political center goes unrepresented.

That's the explanation for Sacramento's perpetual stalemate. Both chambers are populated almost exclusively by Democrats and Republicans tending toward their party's extremes. That's a niche where special interest groups thrive and compromise is verboten.

Preposition 11 creates a 14-member commission empowered to craft future legislative boundaries. Its composition would be five Democrats, five Republicans and four members not affiliated with either party.

Past efforts to clean up the redistricting mess were defeated by the spin "I'm all for redistricting reform, but this plan is flawed." To cynics there will never be a perfect redistricting scheme, not even Iowa's plan, which makes the Hawkeye State a beacon for reformers.

The bottom line is that Proposition 11, backed by the League of Women Voters, AARP and Common Cause, is as good as California is ever going to get. It's far better than a status quo that's made Sacramento a synonym for dysfunction.


ODDS & ENDS: Odd and out of character. That's the best description of commens by state Sen. Pat Wiggins, D-Santa Rosa, to a respected African-American minister. It happened when Methodist Pastor Robert Jones innocuously requested a Senate committe consult "the poor and under represented" when considering global warming legislation. A widely circulated You Tube video captures Wiggins' response: "I think your arguments are bullÉ." We'd expect that from former Sen. John Burton or Dick Cheney, but not from the grandmotherly 68-year-old North Bay senator. It's so untypical. The fear in the Capitol is that her blowup may represent something more than simply a bad temper day.

MOVING UP the ladder is Tony Withington, longtime president of the Amalgamated Transit Union's local for Golden Gate Transit bus drivers. Withington, a force for labor stability during his tenure, is now the union's international representative. His new responsibilities include organizing union members in Western Mountain States for the Democratic presidential ticket.

THE REGIONAL Water Quality Control Board will fine the Sewage Agency of Southern Marin an imposing $1.6 million for two massive environmentally damaging sewage spills into Richardson Bay earlier this year. With 14,883 sewage connections, SASM's fine works out to $107 per home or business in the city of Mill Valley and surrounding unincorporated areas.
