San Leandro's Political Allies Shift in First Redistricting Drafts

Is San Leandro more like its neighbors to the south, or like those to the north? It's a question to ponder on multiple fronts — cultural, economic, political, geographical. But the city may have little choice in the matter of whom it joins as a voting bloc, if redistricting maps proposed this month by a citizens' commission are adopted. 

The 14-member California Citizens Redistricting Commission has redrawn the lines for the state's 53 Congressional districts, 40 State Senate districts, 80 Assembly districts and four Board of Equalization seats after working for months on the endeavor. (See the criteria used in drawing boundaries below.)

The commission has placed San Leandro with Oakland in State Senate and Assembly districts, potentially severing longstanding ties the city has with Hayward, Castro Valley, Cherryland and Ashland.

In terms of its representation in Congress, most, but not all, of San Leandro would continue its association with Hayward and other cities in southern and eastern Alameda County. However, the northern tip of San Leandro would join Oakland, Alameda, Berkeley and Richmond. 

Why should anyone care? As the commission itself states on its website: "How the district boundaries are configured can make the difference between empowering and maximizing the voters’ voices or minimizing and muting those voices."

Having citizens draw electoral districts is a process that's new to California, and it represents a large-scale national effort to eliminate gerrymandering.

The commission was spawned by a 2008 voter-approved ballot measure that stripped state legislators of the power to draw their own district boundaries. The commission's tasks were expanded to include the drawing of congressional districts last November.

Redistricting occurs every 10 years using updated population data from the most recent U.S. Census. This time around, the commission says its goal is to create contiguous districts of relatively equal population that minimize city and county divisions, and group towns with similar "communities of interest."

Here are details on how San Leandro's current districts compare to those proposed by the citizens commission:

Congressional House of Representatives

In the proposed redistricting map, all but the northern end of San Leandro stays in the congressional district currently represented by Rep. Pete Stark (D-Fremont).

Stark's 13th Congressional District includes San Leandro plus Alameda, Hayward, Fremont, Newark, Union City, and parts of Oakland and Pleasanton. 

The proposed new district would swap Fremont and Newark for all of Pleasanton, plus Dublin, Livermore and Sunol.

That means Rep. Jerry McNerney (D-Pleasanton) would be redrawn out of his district and into Stark's territory. McNerney is currently serving his second term as representative of the 11th Congressional District, which straddles portions of the East Bay and the more conservative Central Valley.

State Assembly

San Leandro is currently represented by Assemblymember Mary Hayashi (D-Hayward) in the 18th Assembly District, an area that encompasses San Leandro, San Lorenzo, Ashland, Cherryland, Hayward, Dublin and portions of Castro Valley, Oakland, Pleasanton and Sunol.

But in the proposed change, San Leandro would be grouped with Alameda and most of Oakland — a city four-and-a-half times its size — into a new Assembly district.

Assemblyman Sandre Swanson (D-Alameda) currently lives in this area but will be termed out in 2012.

State Senate

San Leandro is home to the current State Senate majority leader, Ellen Corbett, who was the first woman elected as mayor of the city in 1994 and has twice been elected to the 10th State Senate District.

The current district includes San Leandro, San Lorenzo, Ashland, Cherryland, Fairview, Hayward, Fremont, Newark, Union City, Sunol, Milpitas and portions of Castro Valley and San Jose.

Under the new proposal, San Leandro's Senate district would instead stretch north to include most of the western portions of Alameda and Contra Costa Counties.

Corbett's home turf, therefore, would be absorbed into a district where Sen. Loni Hancock (D-Berkeley) currently resides, as part of the 9th State Senate District. Hancock will have the opportunity to run for another term come 2012.

Sen. Corbett's current term doesn't expire until 2014, so it's possible San Leandro could be represented by two senators during the overlap years. 

At the June 20 City Council meeting, Mayor Stephen Cassidy and several Council members expressed concern about being dwarfed by Oakland if the two cities end up in the same state electoral district.  

"Because of the greater population of Oakland, it means that interests and issues that are perhaps specific to Oakland may predominate in the mind of whoever is that assembly member or state senator," Cassidy said.  

Council member Jim Prola said it was "extremely unlikely" that someone from San Leandro could be elected to the state senate or assembly under such a scenario. 

What's Next?

Commissioners are now holding hearings throughout the state to get public feedback on the proposed district maps.

Bay Area meetings are scheduled for June 25 from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. at San Jose City Hall, and on June 27 from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at Fort Mason Center's Cowell Theater in San Francisco. (For a full schedule, visit www.wedrawthelines.org).

Commissioners are also soliciting written feedback via mail, email and fax. 

Interested parties are expected to weigh in extensively on the drafts, and commissioners could change the district boundaries in a second draft of maps due to be released on July 7.

More public testimony will be gathered before final maps are released Aug. 1. The deadline to adopt final maps is Aug. 15.

Some groups are already threatening to file lawsuits if the current maps stick. Among those are Hispanic advocacy groups, who say the proposed boundaries will lead to fewer Hispanic elected officials. 

Residents who have opinions on the proposed district boundaries may submit their comments via email to votersfirstact@crc.ca.gov, by mail to the Citizens Redistricting Commission, 901 P St., Suite 154-A, Sacramento, CA 95814 or by FAX to 916-651-5711.

Criteria used by the Commission in drawing boundaries