State Senator Gaines' District Could Change

This Friday the Citizens Redistricting Commission, or CRC, will release its final draft of district maps for California for the next 10 years.

After various draft proposals and after some outcry by the public, the CRC has drawn up its final changes to be proposed by the state. The final draft will be presented tomorrow and voted for approval on Aug. 15.

For Roseville, this could mean big district changes.

Ted Gaines' Senate 1 district, may be moved to District 4, according to the latest draft released Wednesday at 11:30 p.m. Losing its association with communities of interest, such as Rocklin, Auburn, and other northern communities in Placer County, switching districts has shifted the district inland and north to incorporate Mendocino County, Yuba City, Chico and more to the north. 

A representative from Senator Gaines' office could not be reached for comments on Gaines' stance on the possible change.

Assembly lines leave Roseville within Beth Gaines' District 4. But from recent population since the 2000 census, the Assembly district shrank and no longer stretched to the Nevada border. However, it does leave most of the district in association with Placer county.

Other changes, such as the lines of Congressional District 4, leave Roseville within that district near other communities of interest. The same with the Board of Equalization lines.

This switch of districts could offer a misrepresentation for many communities such as Roseville, largely because much of District 4 is rural. The voice of a suburban, middle-class and continually developing community could be drowned out with these changes. 

Another factor is Roseville's location on the Interstate 80 corridor. Such issues of air quality, traffic control and construction are better with communities located on or near this stretch of highway.

Earlier this month, regarding proposed lines being drawn. Only three community members attended the workshop, but many concerns were raised regarding rural differences, an association with Sacramento, the separation with communities of interest and other issues. 

After the workshop, Mark Wolinski, government relations representative with the City of Roseville, said the proposed districts “may make it difficult in meeting challenges with our city and region in common, rather than being faced with issues that directly effect us.”

“The reason this is problematic is that over the years we've had long-standing relations being built around issues and concerns that we've worked on with our neighbors to the north,” he said.

In November of 2008, voters passed the Voters FIRST act, which appeared as proposition 11 in the general election. Voters FIRST act authorized the creation of the CRC. Before, it was done by legislature.

Population is the main factor that the CRC takes into account when working to redraw maps. Based from the information gathered by the census taken every 10 years, the Congressional, Senate, Assembly and Board of Equalization districts are redrawn to incorporate the same amount of population, while keeping the same amount of districts.

Congress has 53 districts in California, 40 Senate districts, 80 Assembly Districts and 4 State Board of Equalization districts.

For a look at the proposed maps, click here.