Jess Durfee

by Jess Durfee
Chair, San Diego County Democratic Party
Member, Democratic National Committee

The political ritual known as redistricting takes place at the beginning of each decade. For obvious reasons, the redrawing of legislative districts is critical to making sure Democrats get our share of representation in both houses of the California legislature. The fairness and effectiveness of the process will be put to the test as a new system is implemented soon in California.

As a result of Prop. 11, passed by the voters last November, California will design its districts in an unprecedented way. Next year five Democrats, five Republicans, and four voters of neither major party will be chosen to serve on California’s “Citizens Redistricting Commission.”

Their task won’t actually start until the spring of 2011. But I’m bringing this up now because the application period for potential commissioners is just around the corner, starting December 15, 2009, and running through February 12, 2010.

Interestingly, the regulations prohibit state or local party central committee members and partisan officeholders — and those who have worked for them. Also ineligible are major contributors to partisan candidates.

Still, you might qualify to be a commissioner, or you might know someone who’s a perfect fit for the job. I hope some of you reading this will either apply or send this information to others who you think might be interested. As much progress as we can make by electing a Democratic Governor next year, we’ll also need a Legislature that represents our communities and understands our issues.

This link has all the details: www.cadem.org/redistricting .