Supes can right the wrong districting decision this Tuesday

Every 10 years after the Census is completed, the Placer County Board of Supervisors is required by state law to redraw district boundaries to account for population changes and ensure every supervisor represents an equal number of residents throughout the county. Earlier this week, on a 3-2 vote, the Board of Supervisors moved forward a proposal that does not consider the public's testimony and weakens the voices of every resident, particularly those who live in cities. Why is this important? Because the Board of Supervisors has a $1-billion annual budget and is primarily responsible for addressing homelessness, libraries, veteran services, mental health services, jail facilities and coordinating emergency services. This process, called redistricting, is complicated and usually politically charged. Politicians are often motivated to draw district boundaries that protect their jobs. That is why voters created an independent commission on the state level which takes that power away from politicians. For the first time ever, the supervisors had an opportunity to create a truly independent commission where the decisions would be made by residents. Instead, they appointed an advisory committee of their choosing and ultimately dismissed their recommendation and virtually all public testimony. The approved map is very clearly against the will of the people. One county supervisor, Jim Holmes, who represents most of Rocklin and all of Loomis, went as far as going to the Loomis Town Council to admit that he asked county staff to draw a map to ensure his job would be safe. Despite video evidence of this unethical and perhaps illegal request, he now denies it happened or was taken out of context. After several months of hearings and receiving public input, their hand-picked advisory commission recommended a map that incorporated public testimony and would not split cities while also respecting rural areas. Emails, calls, and testimony from approximately 500 people overwhelmingly supported these goals. However, Supervisor Jim Holmes made a motion that dismissed this process and adopted the staff-created plan without changes requested by the public. His motion flew in the face of what the vast majority of his constituents asked the Board to do via official public comment: keep us together. The map supported by Supervisor Holmes splits Rocklin into two different districts and it does so by separating the most diverse part of town, thus diluting the voice of Rocklin residents. It also rejects a desire by the town of Loomis to be matched with the rest of the Loomis Basin and distinct from the city of Rocklin. In Placer County, 72 percent of the population lives within cities (Rocklin, Roseville, Lincoln, Loomis, Auburn and Colfax) yet four of the five supervisors live in unincorporated areas. This matters because decisions are being made on how to spend $1 billion every year and city residents have very little input on how it is spent. Take for example, $77 million that Placer County received from the federal government intended to help assist residents and businesses impacted by the pandemic and various state-mandated lockdowns. Our supervisors allocated $28 million of those funds to install sewer infrastructure in parts of the county that are largely uninhabited. While your kids were stuck learning from a computer screen, your favorite business was closed at the peak of the pandemic or you lost your job, our supervisors decided to spend millions of dollars to get new people to move to Placer County rather than helping residents who already live here and pay taxes. This should infuriate city and rural residents alike. Only one supervisor, Bonnie Gore (who lives in a city), supported keeping cities together while also creating some independence to drawing the lines. However, the majority of the Board chose to draw their own lines. This year gave supervisors a unique opportunity to engage the public and help give you a bigger voice on matters that keep you safe and healthy. Unfortunately, the majority signaled a lack of concern for your input and decided they could do a better job. Fortunately, this is not over quite yet. The Board of Supervisors can right this wrong and adopt a map that respects your wishes. They will be meeting on Tuesday and you can email the County Clerk at mwood@placer.ca.gov and ask that they throw out Map A and keep cities and rural communities together. Joe Patterson is a Rocklin City Councilman and former mayor. His contact information is 916-297-4822 and joe.patterson@rocklin.ca.us.