The current eight members of the Citizens Redistricting Commission met on Friday to choose the remaining six commissioners, for a total of 14. The six will be chosen from the remainder pool of 28. The commissioners then proposed their slate of choices and, in response to requests from California Forward and others, agreed to give the public some time to review the proposed slate and comment. The Commission will reconvene on Dec. 15, 2010 at 10:30 a.m. to discuss the comments received and hopefully finalize the six proposed commissioners. The proposed slate is below:
|
Registered Democrats |
Registered Republicans |
Registered “Other” |
|
Gabino T. Aguirre |
Lilbert “Gil” R. Ontai |
Michelle R. DiGuilio-Matz |
|
Maria Blanco |
Michael Ward |
M. Andre Parvenu |
Written comments are due by Tuesday, Dec. 14, 2010 at 5 p.m. More information on the applicants, and on how to submit comments, is available at http://wedrawthelines.ca.gov/.
The commission is responsible for redrawing the lines of California Legislative and Board of Equalization districts, as well as the state’s Congressional districts. It was born from the passage of Proposition 11 in 2008 and reaffirmed by voters in Nov. 2011, with the passage of Prop 20, which added Congressional redistricting.
Commissioners who have already been seated are:
- Vincent Barabba, former Director, U.S. Census Bureau; appointed by Presidents Nixon, Ford, and Carter
- Cynthia Dai, UC Berkeley academic; launched the Tsinghua-Berkeley Global Technology Leadership program
- Connie Galambos Malloy, urban planner, served five years on the board of Adopted & Fostered Adults of the African Diaspora; works for Urban Habitat
- Jodie Filkins Webber, litigation defense attorney; mentored incarcerated adolescents
- Stanley Forbes, former Davis City Councilmember; bookstore owner; family farm operator
- Elaine Kuo, worked as a caregiver for the last five years; former tutor for recent immigrants; Senior Research Analyst at UCLA
- Jeanne Raya,insurance broker; served on the San Gabriel Chamber of Commerce; former President, La Raza Lawyers of California
- Peter Yao, Councilmember, City of Claremont; former Director of Engineering, Raytheon
The final commission will include 14 members and must consist of five Republicans, five Democrats, and four independent, minority party, or decline-to-state voters. The 14-member commission will begin its work in Jan. 2011. Work must be completed by Aug. 15, 2011.
California Forward advocated for the commission’s existence and worked to educate voters on the importance of redistricting to a fair and functioning system.
Malka Kopell is the redistricting implementation project director for California Forward.
