From the Fresno Bee: Perata hopes to avoid redistricting reform again by baffling the voters
07/03/08 00:00:00
We need a truth-in-labeling law for politics. That might prevent Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata from lying about Proposition 11, the redistricting reform measure on the November ballot. He’s trying to kill the initiative because it would make legislators more accountable to voters.
Perata won’t debate the issue on its merits, and is resorting to distortion. His campaign is being funded by lobbyists and special interests who get government goodies from California taxpayers.
Perata has begun a campaign against the measure that suggests he’s for good government in his opposition to Proposition 11. As has been amply demonstrated during his legislative career, he isn’t. In fact, Perata, and others of his ilk are the reasons that there’s so much cynicism about the political process.
Perata and his special-interest pals have established a campaign committee against Proposition 11 called “Citizens for Accountability — No on the Power Grab.” This committee is the exact opposite of its name, but telling the truth is not in Perata’s political playbook.
If redistricting reform fails, we will continue to have no accountability by our lawmakers. They draw their own districts to ensure their re-election.
It’s a process that the voters must change by taking map-drawing authority from the Legislature and giving it to a commission without the conflict of interest now inherent in the system.
Perata’s aim is to confuse voters in November, with the hope that they’ll vote against a proposition they don’t understand.
This is a complicated issue and voters must educate themselves. But you can be sure about one thing: If Perata is on one side of the issue, those who believe in good government are surely on the other side.
Proposition 11 would make legislative districts more competitive by having a 14-member independent commission draw lines for the Assembly, Senate and Board of Equalization.
This measure isn’t perfect. But it will solve one huge conflict-of-interest problem in the Legislature by letting a group that does not have a personal interest in the outcome draw district boundaries. If legislators must campaign for re-election by running on their records, that would be a good thing.
Then maybe they would have to pass a state budget on time, and fix our water, transportation, health care and public school problems. Right now, lawmakers can ignore those issues, and that’s the way Perata and his pals like it.
