Every decade we go through it.
Redistricting and politics create winners and losers, and also brings about accusations of gerrymandering and retribution. The retooling of boundaries, done after the census every 10 years to equalize a district’s population, also can cast the fate of politicians who face re-election.
Such is the case with the county Board of Supervisors, which last week became the first local political body to approve its new boundaries. The matter comes up again for final approval at the end of the month, but after a 4-1 vote on July 17, don’t expect anything to change.
Essentially, three of the five districts remained unchanged , Dianne Jacob’s 2nd District, Greg Cox’s 1st District and Ron Roberts’ 4th District. The fireworks were limited to North County and Pam Slater’s 3rd District and Bill Horn’s 5th District.
It turned out to be quite a show. But the 4-1 vote , Slater was the lone dissenter to the new lines , revealed who faces an uncertain political future.
Slater lost two key areas in her district to Horn , the coveted unincorporated area of the San Dieguito River Valley that includes Rancho Santa Fe and the southern portion of Carlsbad, which includes the affluent areas of La Costa and Aviara.
In return, Slater’s district now fingers into inland North County to include Escondido. Her fellow supervisors rationalized the plan by noting all communities along Interstate 15 are unified in one district , the lone exception being Poway, which actually sits back a couple miles from the freeway , thus simplifying transportation issues in the corridor.
Slater called it outright gerrymandering, and looking at a map of her newly drawn district, it’s hard to disagree. While Escondido was bounced between the two like some political beach ball, when it finally landed at Slater’s feet she immediately faced a potential opponent in next year’s 3rd District election.
Escondido Mayor Lori Holt Pfeiler, who was peeved that Escondido was removed from its more natural sphere of North County in the 5th District and now faces southward, has good reason to assert her city’s influence on the Board of Supervisors. Escondido is a major player now in the 3rd District, and considering Slater’s power base is coastal North County, the two could wage quite a political war come 2002.
The Board of Supervisors was just the first battle over redistricting. San Diego is in the midst of its redistricting analysis, and one issue will be whether to put MCAS Miramar in the 7th District or leave it in the 5th District. It could come as a relief to 5th District City Councilman Brian Meinschein, who inherited the Marine Corps chopper controversy when he was elected last November.
Additionally, how districts are reapportioned in both Sacramento and Washington, D.C., must be determined. Slater may be the first to fall victim to the politics of redistricting, but she’s certainly not the last.
