How 14 Californians — including one…
How 14 Californians — including one Inland man — will change who you vote for
J. Ray Kennedy, a member of the California Citizens Redistricting Commission, stands near his home in the Morongo Valley on Tuesday, July 20, 2021. He is among 14 commissioners who will redraw maps for 120 state legislative, 52 congressional and four Board of Equalization districts. (Photo by Watchara Phomicinda, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)
By Jeff Horseman | jhorseman@scng.com | The Press-Enterprise
PUBLISHED: July 29, 2021 at 5:22 p.m. | UPDATED: July 30, 2021 at 11:38 a.m.
You might like the mountains ringing Palm Springs. But do they remind you of Kabul, Afghanistan?
J. Ray Kennedy thought so when he visited. Today, Kennedy, whose work in administering elections has taken him around the globe, lives in the Morongo Valley and sits on a statewide commission that will determine how roughly 40 million Californians are represented in Sacramento and Washington, D.C.
Inland Empire residents will get a chance Saturday, July 31, to address the California Citizens Redistricting Commission. An online Communities of Interest public hearing centered on Riverside and San Bernardino counties is set for 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. to give residents a chance to say how they want voting district maps redrawn.
Kennedy, 62, is the only commissioner from San Bernardino County. None are from Riverside County, though Kennedy said a commissioner splits his time between Los Angeles and a second home in the Coachella Valley.
For Kennedy, whose elections work spans three decades, the commission is an extension of a career that took him to places like Port-au-Prince, Haiti, where he saw the city's poorest residents line up at 3 a.m. to vote.
J. Ray Kennedy, seen Tuesday, July 20, 2021, near his home in the Morongo Valley, sits on the California Citizens Redistricting Commission. (Photo by Watchara Phomicinda, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)
J. Ray Kennedy, a member of the California Citizens Redistricting Commission, stands near his home in the Morongo Valley on Tuesday, July 20, 2021. (Photo by Watchara Phomicinda, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)
J. Ray Kennedy, who sits on the California Citizens Redistricting Commission, points to the mountains near his home in the Morongo Valley on Tuesday, July 20, 2021. (Photo by Watchara Phomicinda, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)
"It's impossible not to be inspired by that much faith in the power of one's own voice," he said.
Kennedy is one of 14 commissioners tasked with combing through late-arriving census data, listening to scores of public speakers and ultimately cutting a House of Representatives district while redrawing 52 others along with 80 state Assembly districts, 40 state Senate districts and four Board of Equalization districts.
A similar process will play out locally as county supervisors, city councils and school districts redraw their maps. At stake is whether communities of color are fairly represented, whether the new maps safeguard or threaten incumbents and the weight of voters' political influence, especially if they're in a district that's up for grabs between Democrats and Republicans.
Census data delays have pushed back the commission's timetable. Normally, the maps would be finalized by Aug. 15, but the state Supreme Court extended the deadline to Dec. 15 and commissioners now want an extension until mid-January, which would put the new maps closer to the February filing period for candidates running in 2022 elections.
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Unlike other states, where state lawmakers draw their own maps, California uses an independent commission to avoid gerrymandering, or the drawing of maps to favor one political party. The last panel, created through a ballot measure approved by voters in 2008, met in 2011 and drew the legislative and congressional districts in use today.
Commission faces tough task
Kennedy's work on elections and redistricting includes drawing legislative districts in Liberia without the help of census data. He estimates he's been to 65 countries and lived for more than a month in nine, including Afghanistan.
Kennedy said the commission seemed like the perfect opportunity to use his skills to serve the public. While commissioners get $378 for each day spent on the panel's business, Kennedy said he has "a fraction of the income" that he's used t and has had to draw from retirement savings to serve on the board.
Commissioners — five Republicans, five Democrats, and four members not affiliated with either party — are registered voters picked through a process involving the state auditor, the legislature and a random drawing that chooses eight commissioners, who then select the other six.
Kennedy, a Democrat, was among thousands of Californians who applied and was among the first eight chosen. Watching his name come up on the bingo ball felt like winning the lottery.
"I just kind of melted on the floor at that point," he said.
Kennedy said the commission works well together.
"When we started on this a year ago, I might have had some fears (about partisanship)," he said, but added that member have "the necessary skills and integrity (to work) on behalf of the people of California."
What's tougher might be the work ahead. Besides taking public input from across the state and studying the latest census numbers, commissioners also must comply with laws to ensure minorities have a fair opportunity to elect leaders of their choice.
Districts also must be roughly equal in population. To top it off, California is losing a House district because other states' populations grew faster, and the last commission's maps drew legal challenges from those upset with the final maps.
Inland Empire could gain clout
With census data expected to show the Inland Empire grew faster than the rest of California since 2010, the region stands to gain politically in redistricting, said Paul Mitchell of the Sacramento-based consulting firm Political Data Inc.
That growth means Inland districts are overpopulated, and by balancing them out to include surrounding counties, the Inland region might not get a new state senator or member of Congress, but would gain political clout, Mitchell said.
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The region also could see "majority minority" districts "drawn with a lens to make sure the minority population has those (federal) Voting Rights Act protections," Mitchell added.
Kennedy doesn't know how Inland districts will change. But he knows they have to.
"Western Riverside County and southwest San Bernardino County are some of the fastest-growing areas in the state," he said. "We can't leave district lines the way they are."
What: The California Citizens Redistricting Commission will hear from Riverside and San Bernardino county residents about how they want their legislative and congressional districts to be drawn.
When: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, July 31
Where: The meeting will be live-streamed at videossc.com/CRC/
Details: The public will have three minutes to speak, after those who signed up for specific time slots. Details on how to call in are available through the livestream link. Others can provide their input online by visiting drawmycacommunity.org/
Editor's Note: This story has been updated to correct an error. Members of the California Citizens Redistricting Commission are eligible for a $378 per diem for each day spent on commission business.
Jeff Horseman | Reporter
Jeff Horseman grew up in Vermont and honed his interviewing skills as a supermarket cashier by asking Bernie Sanders "Paper or plastic?" After graduating from Syracuse University in 1999, Jeff began his journalistic odyssey at The Watertown Daily Times in upstate New York, where he impressed then-U.S. Senate candidate Hillary Clinton so much she called him "John" at the end of an interview. From there, he went to Annapolis, Maryland, where he covered city, county and state government at The Capital newspaper before love and the quest for snowless winters took him in 2007 to Southern California, where he started out covering Temecula for The Press-Enterprise. Today, Jeff writes about Riverside County government and regional politics. Along the way, Jeff has covered wildfires, a tropical storm, 9/11 and the Dec. 2 terror attack in San Bernardino. If you have a question or story idea about politics or the inner workings of government, please let Jeff know.
jhorseman@scng.com
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