Community Corner
Time To Get Serious About Redistricting
New congressional boundaries could cost much of Martinez its elected representative.
Redistricting is the stuff of political junkies and policy wonks. It is the sort of subject that is almost guaranteed to put most folks to sleep, or at least solicit a sort of wistful, far-away look in their eyes as you bring up the subject. It involves maps, lines and the kind of numerical schemata that stifles robust public debate. And perhaps that is the point – I don’t know.
But I do know this – if the California Citizens Redistricting Committee’s new congressional districts are adopted on Aug. 15, a lot of Martinez will have a new congressman, and it won’t be George Miller. It will be Mike Thompson, whose present district takes in much of the new boundary. This will be significant for any number of reasons.
Miller lives here. He grew up here, and he knows the needs of the area. As a federal representative, unless you’re a Republican, Miller is a great choice for this city. He has been in congress for many years, and as a result, he knows how the wheels of Washington turn. You may be a believer in the idea of the citizen politician, someone who takes two or four years off from the farm and serves in congress, then returns, but in the real world of federal politics, you want someone who knows the landscape, who can play the game. Miller certainly fits into that category.
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Mike Thompson refers to himself as a “Blue Dog” democrat, which means he sees himself in the center politically. These days, who knows where the center is? I’m sure he’s a capable and learned representative, but I didn’t vote for him, and if you live in Martinez, neither did you. Yet he’s about to become the congressman for many of us, at least until the next election.
At that point, we’ll be voting for someone in a district that includes Solano, Napa, Sacramento and Mendocino counties. That, in a nutshell, is an outrage. What in the world do those areas have in common with Martinez, which happens to reside in the Bay Area? Our needs and those of our neighbors to the north don’t have a whole lot in common. And it is extremely unlikely that our area will put forth a candidate that will be electable in a district that large and far away from us.
Find out what's happening in Martinezwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Public input is being received until the final map is voted on by the committee on Aug. 15. It might be a good time to take a deep breath and wade into this mess.
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