EDITORIAL: Perata's power play

San Francisco Chronicle ^ | 6/30/8 | Editor

[SmithL]

Redistricting reform is years, if not decades, overdue in California. Unfortunately, the reason that it's overdue is that while voters have the most to gain from an honest reappraisal of the state's legislative boundaries, the politicians in power keep doing everything they can to prevent such reform.

It's no wonder, then, that the California Legislature can't seem to pass a redistricting reform bill with any teeth.

Still, watching Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata, D-Oakland, and other partisans prepare a pre-emptive attack on Proposition 11 is both disappointing and disturbing.

Perata held a closed-door meeting last Friday with fellow insiders to hammer out an opposition plan to Proposition 11. The initiative would strip legislators of their power to draw their own districts and put that duty in the hands of a bipartisan citizens' commission. Paul Hefner, a Perata spokesman, claims that it's not fair to have a commission evenly split between Democrats and Republicans in a blue state, and that the initiative could disenfranchise communities of color. Both arguments are bogus. The federal Voting Rights Act would trump any state measure that might undercut minority representation.

Also, it's critical to note that this measure was not crafted by Republicans.

[SmithL]

- Test of leadership: Don Perata is trying to undermine redistricting reform.

[SmithL]

PeRATa Ping!

[Dems_R_Losers]

They will do anything and everything to stop this initiative. When I lived in California in 1990, a similar proposition was on the ballot and polls consistently showed it with over 60% support. But then the liberal interest groups came in with massive, misleading TV ads. I remember one by the Sierra Club that said passing the proposition would destroy the environment by putting state government in the hands of Polluters! It was shameless propaganda and it worked. The California Teachers Aassociation made defeat of the proposition its #1 election priority.

Since California is far more Democratic than it was in 1990, I see little chance for this proposition to pass. The Democrats will lie, lie, lie about it and the stupid voters will believe it.

[rahbert]

Is that big rat still in office? Alameda Co needs to take out the trash.

[NormsRevenge]

Perata worried about fairness... wow. That’s a new one.

[DPMD]

Alameda County is nothing if not terminally stupid. Look for Perata the Pistolero to be the next Oakland mayor.