ICYMI: Redistricting Bombshell - Just the Tip of the Iceberg

By CRP Chairman Tom Del Beccaro (as seen in FlashReport)

 

Yesterday’s bombshell report released by ProPublica, a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalism website, entitled "How Democrats Fooled California's Redistricting Commission," systematically lays out the Democrats' manipulation of what should have been an open and transparent process, It also demonstrated exactly how the redistricting maps were corrupted by partisan activists working in cooperation with the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

 

Here's what the San Jose Mercury News reported about the redistricting scandal:

 

"California's congressional Democrats ran a secret effort earlier this year to manipulate the work of the independent citizen's panel that drew the state's new political districts, foiling the intent of reformers who sought to remove the redistricting process from the control of party bosses.

 

"Democrats met behind closed doors at the party's Washington, D.C. headquarters, hired consultants, drew their ideal districts and presented maps to the panel through proxies who never disclosed their party ties or "public interest" groups created specifically for the purpose. In many cases, the panel responded by doing just what the Democrats wanted."

 

The ProPublica report vindicates my repeated contention that the redistricting process was hijacked. That report, however, is just the tip of the iceberg and the problems were not limited to the Congressional maps.

 

If you’re a regular Flash Report reader, you know that I've been petitioning the Redistricting Commission from the very beginning to conduct itself with openness and fairness, just like California voters asked when they voted in favor of Prop 11 and 20. In March, I recommended that the commission hire bi-partisan line drawing experts and Voting Rights Act counsel to assist them with re-drawing legislative lines to avoid the commission being cast as a partisan one. Instead, they chose to ignore my advice and hired Q2 Data and Research, a firm widely known for its ties to Democrats.

 

I chronicled the commission proceedings with a Flash Report exclusive, "The Redistricting Commission – Worse Than I Could Possibly Imagine." If the road to Hell is paved with good intentions, the road signs to Hell point directly to the partisanship showed by the DCCC and its Democrat operatives in California.

 

I called for Dr. Gabianno Aguirre to step down as his involvement compromised the commission's integrity because he failed to disclose his advisory role and donations to a group that presented to the so-called Citizens Commission and then ensured that corrupted lines were used. Those calls fell on deaf ears, and Dr. Aguirre was allowed to maintain his position on the Commission.

 

In the Sacramento Bee, I stated that the Citizens Redistricting Commission 'failed to consistently apply the criteria mandated by law when drawing the Assembly, Senate, congressional, and Board of Equalization maps. And so on. Thankfully, a well-respected investigative team has finally exposed the depths to which Democrats have gone to leverage a loaded outcome.

 

However, the corruption of the process went far beyond what was disclosed in the ProPublica investigation. No fair minded person can now say the process or the result was fair. I am calling for an immediate and thorough investigation, by Congressional and State authorities, to get to the bottom of this obviously corrupted process. Beyond that, the Congressional and Senate lines as drawn by the Commission should not be used in any way for the upcoming elections. Enough should be enough.

 

Source: CA GOP

Statement of CA Democratic Chairman in Response to Unsubstantiated Pro Publica Report Charging Democratic Manipulation of Redistricting Commission

The article charging California Democrats with manipulating California's Redistricting Commission is pure fantasy. I've never had a single conversation about redistricting with any of the Commission's members and frankly I wouldn't recognize a single member of the Commission if I ran into one on the street.

 

Sadly, Pro Publica chose to recycle talking points from the Republican-funded Rose Institute without checking with the Democratic Party. The Rose Institute, which was knocked out of the redistricting process earlier this year because of its explicit ties to the Republican Party, tried to make these charges at beginning of the Commission's deliberations where they were clearly rejected. If the Rose Institute and the Republican Party believed the Democratic Party controlled the independent Commission, one would think they would have challenged all three redistricting plans in court, instead of just one.

CRP Statement on State Supreme Court Decision to Reject Redistricting Lawsuits

SACRAMENTO – California Republican Party Chairman Tom Del Beccaro issued the following statement today in response to the decision by the California State Supreme Court to reject the legal challenges to the state's new Senate and Congressional maps:

 

"We remain committed to the efforts that will ensure the integrity of the line drawing process for the upcoming election and all elections going forward. In the absence of a written opinion, we can only speculate as to why they made this decision, but we are resolute in gathering the signatures necessary so that voters can weigh in on this matter, as contemplated by Props 11 and 20."

Source: CA GOP

New Congressional Districts Challenged in Supreme Court

SACRAMENTO – Former Congressman George Radanovich, along with four other individuals, today filed a Petition for a Writ of Mandamus with the California Supreme Court alleging that the California Citizens Redistricting Commission violated the Equal Protection Clause of the 14 Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, the Voting Rights Act (VRA) and various provisions of the California Constitution due to the manner in which the Commission drew Congressional redistricting lines.  The petition asks the Supreme Court to appoint a Special Master to draw new lines for those Congressional districts alleged to be in violation.

"California voters approved two initiatives designed to finally remove politics and backroom deals from redistricting. Unfortunately, the Citizens Redistricting Commission failed miserably in that respect by producing congressional districts so politically driven that they violate our California Constitution, the U.S. Constitution, and the Voting Rights Act," said Radanovich.

The petition focuses on three Congressional districts in L.A. County where the parties claim the Commission intentionally diluted the number of African American voters in each of the districts to protect the three congressional incumbents. The Commission had the obligation under the VRA to construct one or two of these Congressional Districts as African American majority-minority districts; they failed to do this and in so doing the Commission violated the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment and the VRA, according to the lawsuit.

Calfornia Republican Party Vice Chairman Steve Baric is the lead attorney for the group who filed the writ, although the CRP is not officially involved in the lawsuit.

Source: CA GOP

Governor Brown Pledges State Support as Local Leaders Launch Realignment

SACRAMENTO – Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr., flanked by the state’s top law enforcement leaders, today pledged “maximum state support” as local officials begin California’s historic realignment to comply with the U.S. Supreme Court’s prison-reduction order.

“The U.S. Supreme Court has ordered California to reduce its prison population without delay and realignment is the most viable plan to comply with the Court’s order – it ensures that the most dangerous offenders serve their full sentences in state prison,” Brown said. “Today I am pledging maximum state support to local officials: full funding, flexibility to use local solutions, and a future ballot measure guaranteeing continuous funding. We can’t overturn the Supreme Court’s decision, but we can work together to fix our broken system and protect public safety,” Brown added.

State and local officials have worked together for months preparing for the transfer to local government of funds and a range of responsibilities, including supervising parolees, managing lower-level offenders, and providing mental health, substance abuse, and child protective services.

“We think local government can do this and can do it better,” said Yolo County Supervisor and California State Association of Counties (CSAC) First Vice President Mike McGowan. “That said, we need the tools, which in this case, means a constitutional guarantee that the funding necessary for success, is protected for the future. We appreciate that Governor Brown has strongly stated his support of this approach.”

“In working with Governor Brown we have forged a proper plan, scheme and design to implement realignment on October 1, 2011, thereby allowing local government to administer services, thus reducing recidivism,” said Merced County Sheriff and California State Sheriffs’ Association (CSSA) President Mark N. Pazin.

In January 2010, a Three-Judge Court ordered the state to reduce the inmate population in its 33 adult prisons to 137.5 percent of design capacity. The Three-Judge Court’s order was affirmed by the U.S. Supreme Court in May 2011. As a result, the State is mandated to lower its prison population by approximately 30,000 inmates by June 27, 2013.

The budget and legislation Governor Brown signed in June provide the legal framework for realignment and allocations of revenue to counties for their new responsibilities. The total funding provided to the counties this year will be $5.6 billion, and it is expected to grow to $6.8 billion by 2014.

Governor Brown was joined today by:

Matthew Cate, Secretary of CDCR

Sheriff Mark Pazin, Merced County

Supervisor Mike McGowan, Yolo County

Officer Isabelle Voit, Solano County Chief Probation

Chief Scott Seaman, Los Gatos

Supervisor David Finigan, Del Norte County

District Attorney Carl Adams, Sutter County

Chief Rick Braziel, Sacramento Police Department

Patricia Ryan, Executive Director, California Mental Health Directors Association

Frank Mecca, Executive Director, County Welfare Directors Association of California

Tom Renfree, Executive Director, County Alcohol and Drug Program Administrators Association of California

CRP Supports Referendum Effort on Redistricting Commission's Senate Maps

SACRAMENTO, CA – California Republican Party Chairman Tom Del Beccaro issued the following statement in response to the Citizens Redistricting Commission's final approval of the redrawn Senate maps:

"A referendum will be filed with respect to the Senate lines and possibly the Congressional lines. The California Republican Party will wholehartedly support those efforts when they come about. I have been saying for months that the CRC's actions have been unfair if not unconstitutional, and that remains the case. The CRP will do whatever it can to give voters the chance to correct what the Commission failed to do."

CRP Chairman Questions Redistricting Commission's Actions, Motives

SACRAMENTO, CA – California Republican Party Chairman Tom Del Beccaro issued the following statement in response to today’s CalWatchdog.com's article, "Mike Ward: Redistricting Panel Broke Law":

"In Sunday's Sacramento Bee, I stated that the Citizens Redistricting Commission 'failed to consistently apply the criteria mandated by law when drawing the Assembly, Senate, congressional, and Board of Equalization maps.' Today, Dr. Michael Ward not only confirmed that assessment but established motive. At this point, every California citizen should want the Commission to vote down the maps."

Redistricting Panel Didn't Follow Law on Senate Lines

By Thomas Del Beccaro, CRP Chairman (as seen in SacBee.com)

Tom Del Beccaro, chairman of the California Republican Party, is responding to the Aug. 7 editorial, "State GOP should stop blaming redistricting reform for its challenges," which stated:

"Any losses (of seats by the GOP) will have nothing to do with the commission and everything to do with demographics and voter registration."

Perhaps our most cherished right as citizens is our right to vote. Free and fair elections are not just an ideal but also the hallmark of our republic.

When California voters created the California Redistricting Commission, they wanted just that – a free and fair process. Unfortunately, the manner in which the Senate lines were drawn was more partisan than fair, and simply failed to comply with the law. Voters have no choice but to rectify this problem by referendum.

Insider Democrats have concluded that the new lines put them within reach of a supermajority in the California Senate. If they achieve that, they could vote for higher taxes and fees without a single Republican vote.

As the Republican Party chair of California, that is not an outcome I would want – but it is the manner in which the outcome was achieved that is of the most concern.

The commission, which in practice was dominated by Democrats, failed to consistently apply the criteria mandated by law when drawing the Assembly, Senate, congressional and Board of Equalization maps.

There is but one set of criteria they were given in determining each district map. Anyone who watched the commission, however, knows that the commission completely abandoned constitutional guidelines when it came to the Senate...

Click HERE to read the full Sacramento Bee article.

CRP Chairman Calls for Redistricting Commission to Release Important Documents

SACRAMENTO, CA – California Republican Party Chairman Tom Del Beccaro today sent a letter to the California Citizens Redistricting Commission calling for the immediate release of the proposed resolution or document it plans to use to "certify final maps" pursuant to the California Constitution. According to the CRP's letter, the Commission's failure to act violates the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act.

"This is the latest in a series of systematic failures to abide by the guidelines under which the Redistricting Commission was supposed to operate transparently and produce fair lines," said CRP Chairman Tom Del Beccaro.

The Government Codes listed in the CRP's letter mandate that the Commission comply with the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act requiring meeting records to be posted in a manner that ensures immediate and widespread public access, and that writings that are public records and are distributed to members of the Commission are to be made available to the public prior to or during a meeting at which they are discussed.

To view a PDF version of CRP Chairman Tom Del Beccaro's letter to the Redistricting Commission, click HERE.