We Draw the Lines (iiii)

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(click for the first and second and third installments)

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This is the first one I really ran out of space on. Ah vell.

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Please describe the analytical skills you have that are relevant to serving on the Citizens Redistricting Commission, as discussed in Regulation 60827. You may include with this description any occupational, academic, volunteer, or other life experiences you have had that demonstrate those skills.

I will respond to as many elements of Regulation 60827 as will fit in the allotted space in order to give a sampling of how I meet this criteria.

* An ability to participate effectively in public hearings regarding redistricting by listening carefully and critically to the testimony of witnesses and formulating concise questions that will elicit relevant information.

- My experience as a reporter, having to attend public meetings and then relay the information in accurate digest form to my readers has, I feel, prepared me well to sit on the other side of the hearing divide. As well as prepared me to ask useful questions.

* Evaluating the validity and significance of the information gathered . . . in order to make sound decisions about the proper placement of communities in districts . . . .

- Although this requirement includes aspects of basic mathematical and computer literacy, the more important aspects are those connected to discerning the more important and credible data from the less. I'm particularly excited to "assess the relative strength of competing arguments" --- this is the real challenge the commission faces and it's a thrilling one to attack. Without this ability to parse facts, the complex problems the commission will face will be unintellgible, let alone solvable.

* Applying the appropriate legal standards . . . .

- Ah. This is what makes the puzzle a puzzle. Without the legal standards it's just problem solving. Add in the legal requirements and it turns into a game much like fitting all one's furniture into a seemingly too small moving truck. Understanding those standards is a simple-only-on-the-face task. Legal code is purposefully inscrutable, of course. But necessary. No matter how perfect the commission's work, someone will want to take the lines to court. So doing it right the first time is vital. This is where the soon-to-be-mentioned "receiving expert advice" will come in. Something I myself am expert at.

* Effective communication skills, including, but not limited to, basic writing skills. An ability to interact effectively with other commissioners to build consensus . . . through reasoned discussion and negotiation.

- Given the lotterylike odds of my taking this position, you may not be able to tell from the imperfect essays I am submitting, but I can communicate with words on paper like few can. (To wax unhumble for a moment.) I'll never be a good politician because I have little interest in being politic, but I can build consensus and work with others and make things happen. I don't get out of the way. I get things done.

* . . . a description of those skills and through occupational, academic, volunteer, or life experiences . . .

- As a missionary in Korea, I led teams of 20yearold kids in 80hour workweeks. That's not easy.

- As a student, as a reporter, as an educator, I have complied and deconstructed statistical and narrative sources of information. I've never drawn six figures by looking at papers and acting smart, but let's be honest: any reasonably literate person can do this and many can do it well. Compiling histories and original research on 19th c. publishing, for example.

- City watchdog.

We Draw the Lines (iii)

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(click for the first and second installments)

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3. Please describe your appreciation for California's diverse demographics and geography, as discussed in Regulation 60805. You may include with this description any occupational, academic, volunteer, or other life experiences you have had that demonstrate this appreciation.

California, at least as much as any state in this Union, was built on a variety of peoples. A long coast and an international border means we've a long history of welcoming those from climes other than the rest of the US. That said, I'm using a pretty liberal definition of the word "welcome" --- it seems a bit overstated to describe our history of welcoming as welcoming.

Days of separate school are passed. At the school I know teach at, the State of California records American Indians (0.3%), Asians (17.8%), Pacific Islanders (0.6%), Filipinos (2.3%), Hispanics (21%), African Americans (36.3%), Whites (18.4%) and the ever-mysterious Others (2.9%). Of course these categories themselves can mislead us into simplified the cultural diversity of the state. For a Chinese-American whose great-great-great-grandparents arrived in San Francisco in the 1860s to have the same categorization as a child just arrived from Laos is to miss the true diversity our state proudly exhibits.

Integrated schools were not a panacea though; human society is as subject to entropy as any other system and it requires a constant input of energy to maintain the openness and equality we have --- to say nothing of improving upon prior successes.

Which is why this redistricting project is so important. Having representation reflect the people represented mattereth much.

From when I lived in large cities of Korea to when I kayaked the Kern river --- from when as a child I saw my grandfather's rural Idaho ranch destroyed to when I went with my mother to purchase unguarded grapes from a farmer's garage refrigerator in Clovis --- from riding BART under the Bay to picking up a hitchhiker heading to Lake Isabella --- inside California and out, I have tried to be open to others' stories.

As a reporter, I interviewed my town's Sacramento representation. At the time, I was already writing columns about the need for districting reform. But my state senator told me I was nuts. That the rancor of the current system only seemed dysfunctional. That he and his fellow hyperpartisans must necessarily represent the people of California better than those who had to listen to their constituents in order to get elected. Madness.

Politicians must listen to those they represent.

But first the redistricters must listen so that the people will be fairly represented.

We Draw the Lines (roughdraftii)

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(click to read the previous installment)

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Please describe your ability to be impartial, as discussed in Regulation 60800. You may include with this description any occupational, academic, volunteer, or other life experiences you have had that demonstrate this ability.

I teach high school. At least once a week we analyze a professional commentary from somewhere along the political spectrum. As an education, I feel part of my duty is to help sculpt citizens who have a firm grasp on the complexities of public discourse. Most teenagers, unsurprisingly, don't come to me with a sense of political nuance. And that's what I try to teach them. For instance, I did an entire unit on the language of the propositions the year Prop 11 passed. If the kids felt chickens should be protected (Prop 2) I argued that eggs--our state's most affordable protein--would get more expensive. If one class thought kids should have to report abortions to their parents and another class thought they shouldn't (Prop 4), then for the first class I argued parental rights and to the second class I openly feared a return to the back alley. In both those cases I had strong opinions regarding those propositions, but my students would be hard pressed to tell you what wise I was on. Because fairness mattered more to me--I wanted my students to have the opportunity to make up their own minds. And whatever they decided--so long as their decision was based on solid reasoning and true facts--was acceptable to me. There was one exception to the they-don't-know-where-I-stand rule: Prop 11. Prop 11 moves beyond who's right and who's wrong. Prop 11 is about the opportunity to have your vote count. Without Prop 11, it doesn't much matter how well informed you are about candidates, because we have no true democracy. Redistricting matters so much because without it, impartiality cannot exist. So yes, I can be impartial. Being impartial is, in my opinion, the first step in saving our great state. (Addendum: I'm not looking to seek for public office and yes, as a teacher I am a member of one of the state's largest unions, but we don't always get along. Maybe fifty percent of the time?)

We Draw the Lines

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I'm applying to be on the redistricting commission for California because I promoted Prop 11 with vigor and I want it done right. So I decided I ought to do more than talk.

Now, considering the final tally of commissioners can be counted on our respective fingers and toes and over 20,000 people have applied, I'm not likely to get the position. So really, applying is just a symbolic act.

But I'm posting here my rough drafts for the secondary applications. The first question:

Please describe why you are interested in serving on the Citizens Redistricting Commission. I've long felt that our gerrymandered districts are largely to blame for the political problems faced by California. The lines as presently constituted ignore the natural boundaries formed by neighborhoods, cities, geography, industry, etc. I remember when I was young, on the front page of the Bakersfield Californian, talk of splitting California into two states. I don't remember if the article was appalled by the same thing I was, but I was horrified by the notion that Kern County would be shunted into "Southern California." We weren't Southern California! We're Central! And I imagine that people in Eureka are amused by the notion that San Francisco, the north-south midpoint, by actual miles, might somehow be as "Northern California" as they. Asking about where the split between North and South is has since become a habit of mine. I'm always curious where the lines should be drawn. Where does the Central Coast fit in? Culturally, much of it is more like LA than it's like the San Joaquin, but don't even think about calling Big Sur SoCal. I make it sound like California is broken into factions. But that's not it at all. There are gradations of alliances. And one great thing about not having an actual political line dividing the state in halves (or into thirds) is that we can balance those gradations. Now that I live in the Bay Area, I'm more comfortable with my so-called Southern California heritage. I'm more defined by the geography of my childhood than some label placed on it. Because our placement in the state matters. It matters less how we register to vote. The Republicans and Democrats of my Tehachapi hometown share certain needs and values and priorities. By grouping that community together politically, their representatives find a common ground based in real needs. The current gerrymandered groupings lead representatives to find a common ground based on ethereal ideology. We need representation grounded in the real world. And so we need redistricting grounded in the real world.