10:00 PM PDT on Thursday, September 15, 2011
BY IMRAN GHORI
STAFF WRITER
ighori@pe.com
San Bernardino County supervisors will take up a redistricting ordinance today but remain split on the plan, which has drawn criticism from some mountain and Latino residents.
The board approved a draft proposal on a 3-2 vote last month at its fourth meeting since May on how to draw the county’s supervisorial district boundaries.
The new map shifts parts of the San Bernardino Mountains — from Lake Arrowhead to Running Springs — from the 3rd District to the 2nd District.
The proposed map would also move Barstow, Lucerne Valley and Twentynine Palms from the 1st District to the 3rd District and half of Upland from the 2nd District to the 4th District.
The county’s consultant, National Demographics Corp., recommended the option out of five maps considered as the best able to meet different county criteria.
Changing demographics from the 2010 census required the county to decrease the size of the High Desert 1st District, which saw the largest population increase, while adding to the 4th District, which needed to grow the most to ensure the districts are equally balanced, according to county spokesman David Wert.
Supervisor Neil Derry, who represents the 3rd District, voted against the plan along with 1st District Supervisor Brad Mitzelfelt. Both remain opposed.
Derry had proposed two alternatives that would move all of the San Bernardino Mountains into his district — an option supported by a large group of mountain residents who spoke at the public hearings of wanting to unify the area under one district.
“The public has come out and spoken and been routinely ignored,” Derry said of the plan favored by the board majority.
Board Chairwoman Josie Gonzales, who represents the 5th District, said she is satisfied that the plan is as fair as it can be given the different regulations governing redistricting.
“We go into the redistricting process knowing we’re not going to make everybody happy; that includes ourselves, the supervisors,” she said.
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The BOS doesn’t consider anything unless it is a directive from a significant contributor. The will of the people means squat! And the West End power grab is on!
makemelaugh: Derry doesn’t have as much to worry about as Ovitt and his puppet on a string Devil-roe. Again i must say there’s a reason Hackelman is retiring and it wasn’t because he wanted to!
I have to ask whom exactly is the redistricting actually going to be good for?
Billy jack: The only person wearing a hat is you, and its a dunce cap. This county isn’t about to elect an overweight buffoon who doesn’t pay taxes and doesn’t have to follow the laws that he passes. Nothing racist about the truth. Or perhaps you are really an illegal alien working at McDonald’s who is desperately worried about losing his job to a 16 year old kid!
you can be on probation for a DUI, does that mean that you can not run for office?
The real criminals in SB County are Deveraux the crook, Ovitt the stupid and the Devils handmaiden, the Whoremonger. The FEDS should throw thm all in prison.
Are the lines going to cross over into Mexico? Are we going to e-verify those in the new districts?
Gonzales sounds Mexican. Has she been e-verified?