LAKEPORT — The Lake County Board of Supervisors (BOS) discussed the issue of congressional redistricting as an extra item during its regular meeting Tuesday.
The process of congressional redistricting began in 2007 with the submission of Proposition 11, known as the Voters First Act, to be on the ballot for the 2008 election via the initiative process.
The passage of the act put the power of drawing up state assembly and senate district boundaries in the hands of a committee, composed of citizens who applied for the positions and were approved by state legislators, known as the California Citizens Redistricting Commission (CCRC). Last November, the passage of Proposition 20, known as the Voters First Act for Congress, gave the CCRC the power to draw up new congressional district boundaries.
Lake County is within the First Congressional District, comprised of Lake, Mendocino, Humboldt and Del Norte counties and parts of Napa, Sonoma and Yolo counties. The latest proposal from the CCRC on Friday has Lake County being included in a new district, currently known as YUBA.
The proposed YUBA district would be comprised of Lake, Colusa, Sutter and Yuba counties, with parts of Glenn, Yolo, Solano and Sacramento counties also included.
District 3 Supervisor Denise Rushing said she testified at three different CCRC meetings and asked that Lake County be kept with Napa County in the proposed NEBAY district, which would also consist of parts of Sonoma, Solano and Contra Costa counties.
Rushing said she was notified the request to put Lake County in the NEBAY district was denied because it would require dividing either the cities of Vallejo or Benicia into separate districts.
Before beginning its discussion, the BOS first voted to take up the issue as an extra item. County Administrator Kelly Cox said the item was not included on the agenda because the county was not notified of the denial until late Monday afternoon.
Rushing said the commission asked if Lake County would be split to allow the city of Fairfield to be entirely within the YUBA district instead of split between YUBA and NEBAY districts.
Rushing said she was “frustrated that the county”s interests seem to be secondary in the process.”
Rushing proposed to draft a letter to the commission asking to keep Lake County intact but accept being split into both the NEBAY and YUBA districts. She handed out to the other Supervisors a map where the proposed boundary line for the two districts was drawn over a Google Maps image of the county.
The proposed split would put the City of Lakeport and the communities of Middletown, Clearlake Riviera, Soda Bay, Kelseyville, Upper Lake, Nice, Lucerne and Clearlake Oaks within the NEBAY district. The City of Clearlake and the communities of Lower Lake, Hidden Valley Lake and Spring Valley would be within the YUBA district.
Rushing said the goal of this split was to keep the wine regions, economic interests and watershed of the county in the NEBAY district.
Rushing said it was “painful” to attempt to separate the county. “We don”t like it, but we will accept it if a portion of Lake County could be grouped with areas with which we have a common interest,” she said. “We do not have common interests with the counties to the East and it makes no sense to group us with them.”
District 5 Supervisor Rob Brown said there was no good scenario for the county in this situation.
Cox asked the Supervisors to draft a letter and all sign it. Rushing said Cox and she would attend a CCRC meeting to deliver the letter in person.
The Supervisors unanimously approved drafting a letter that they all would sign and be delivered by Cox and Rushing.
Kevin N. Hume can be reached at kevin.n.hume@gmail.com or call directly 263-5636 ext. 14.
