Every ten years, following the national census, city council district boundaries must be adjusted to keep, as closely as possible, the same number of people in each district. Normally this does not require big changes, but this year San Diego is adding a new 9th District, so every single district is on the chopping block, including District 3.
In February, the San Diego LGBT Community Leadership Council (CLC) created the LGBT Redistricting Task Force to protect and enhance an LGBT community of interest district and encourage education and participation among other communities of interest in the city redistricting process.
The CLC is a federation of San Diego LGBT and allied not-for-profit organizations. Among its 50+ members are the ACLU, the San Diego Democratic Club, The LGBT Center, Log Cabin Republicans, Mama’s Kitchen, San Diego Pride, GSDBA, the Imperial Court, Lambda Archives, Lambda Legal, PFLAG, Diversionary Theatre and most of the LGBT non-profits in the LGBT community centered in District 3.
The task force is comprised of volunteer members of the community. Its meetings are open to the public.
Task force members have been working on redistricting since early this year. We attended over 100 meetings, classes, mapping sessions and the like. We met dozens of times with representatives from the African American, Latino and Asian-Pacific Islander redistricting groups. We made presentations at town councils and planning groups, local gay organizations and neighborhood groups. We created Facebook groups and events, wrote articles, issued press releases and got on the phone to personally invite people to participate. We solicited testimony, comments and letters from a broad cross section of the community. We have attended all of the redistricting commission public hearings and most of the redistricting commission meetings. We spent hundreds of hours mulling and mapping, listening and learning about the redistricting process.
The LGBT Task Force has had the largest identifiable group attending any of the Redistricting Commission hearings – twice. We represented around 15 percent of the total citywide attendance at the Pre-Map Redistricting hearings. Our community showed up in force to support our community of interest. Much of this success was due to the hard work and integrity of Vicky Kerley. Jacqueline Palmer, Matt Corrales, Mel Merrill and Peter Hill also made enormous contributions. They deserve our respect and gratitude.
After months of work, the task force presented a map to the Redistricting Commission for a new District 3 with boundaries that ensure the strongest possible LGBT district. We worked hand in hand with our African American, Latino and API allies to draw districts that maximize the actual power of these three communities. Our first priority was to see a city council that more closely resembles the diversity of San Diego.
Our map was well received, but some folks thought it should have been drawn a little differently. That’s fair. They all have some good points. Much of the process of redistricting involves prioritizing values. For example – City Heights. Many folks want to keep City Heights in District 3. They present two main reasons for this.
1. District 3 will become less diverse if City Heights goes into another district.
That is true. What is also true, and perhaps much more important and beneficial, is that City Heights would then be the core of a new Latino Empowerment District. What that means, when you cut through all the jargon, is this: If City Heights is in this new empowerment district, it is much more likely that an additional Latino/person of color will sit on the City Council.
So we have two good possibilities: District 3 remains more diverse or those same folks that enhance our diversity get their own seat, a voice and a vote at the table of power. To the task force, it is a pretty clear choice. The best choice is one that gets folks a voice and a vote.
2. If City Heights goes into another district, Todd Gloria would have to move in order to continue to represent District 3. His supporters think that it is unfair to ask Todd to move to continue representing District 3.
Again, we are faced with choices. We can create new districts that give people of color and the LGBT community much greater representation on the City Council. The task force priority is that enhancing the voting strength of the Latino and LGBT communities takes precedence over the interests of the incumbent city council member.
The community can, and will, have different opinions on these priorities, but two inescapable facts remain.
First, according to the 2010 U.S. Census approximately one-third of San Diego’s population is Latino. The Voting Rights Act requires that, if requested, a second or even third Latino empowerment district be created. Latino community leaders representing over 40 Latino organizations have requested such a district. City Heights, with the largest concentration of Latino population outside of District 8, is essential to the creation of this district.
Thus, it is likely that City Heights’ future will be decided by the requirements of the Voting Rights Act regardless of our conclusions about priorities.
Second, the city charter states that “districts may not be drawn for the purpose of advantaging or protecting incumbents.” So, even though some might want to draw District 3 to protect Councilman Gloria, the Redistricting Commission is prohibited from doing so.
There are many other issues. If City Heights ends up in a different district, what neighborhoods should we include in the new District 3? Some – Mission Hills, Bankers Hill, Midtown – make a lot of sense. Some folks think downtown would be a perfect fit. Others, not so much.
I hope to give you further updates on these and other issues.
These are complex questions. The task force welcomes your input and your involvement. Please join us at our regular monthly meeting on the fourth Wednesday of the month at 7 p.m. at The LGBT Center. Contact me with any questions: 858-775-2950, lindaperine@yahoo.com.
