Gerrymandering hurts everyone

I've fought for fair maps since the early 2000s. Back then, politicians drew their own districts. It was rigged. They stayed in power no matter what. I said it plainly in the 2008 California Voter Guide for Proposition 11: "The current system where politicians draw their own districts is rigged to make sure they get reelected. Prop. 11 will put voters back in charge and make it easier to vote them out of office if they're not doing their job." Voters agreed. Prop. 11 passed with a strong majority. Two years later, Californians voted overwhelmingly, more than 61 percent voting yes, to require Congressional maps be drawn by the California Citizens Redistricting Commission. The California Citizens Redistricting Commission took over. Independent. Fair. No more insider games. It's hailed as a national model – where redistricting is done right. Experts and reformers point to it as the gold standard for putting people first. We can't break that model now. Don't give in to petty partisan games that undermine trust. I've seen the damage up close in Roseville. In 2019, the city council drew maps that were unethical. Probably illegal, too. The Sacramento Bee's editorial board called it. Those lines protected incumbents. They cheated voters. I fought for a local independent redistricting commission. Roseville residents backed it. They voted yes 63.5 percent. Change happened because people demanded better for our community. But it didn't stop there. The Roseville City School District tried the same trick. They gerrymandered maps to force a mid-term election between two popular candidates who were politically aligned. This was specifically done to break that alliance. Unfair. Cruel to the community. Now, it's happening again. This time, at the state level. Governor Gavin Newsom and the Democratic supermajority want mid-cycle redistricting. They admit it's to flip Republican seats. Specifically, to impact five Republican Congressional representatives. Our region in South Placer County thrives on cooperation. Cities and counties work together. Our congressman has been key to that. By every measure, we're a community of interest. We work together. Play together. Support each other. United. Strong. These new maps tear us apart. Roseville and Rocklin get lumped with Sacramento – a community with much different needs. Meanwhile, Granite Bay and Lincoln each get different reps. It's a deliberate split. Our voices get diluted. Our issues ignored. Divided. Weakened. Gerrymandering means manipulating boundaries for unfair advantage. To help one party. Or protect (or hurt) incumbents. Newsom tells us that's exactly why they're doing this. It's wrong. The governor claims these maps are made "in the most democratic way." He says they will "submit to the people of our state the ability to determine their own maps." But look closer. This isn't democratic. It's a power grab. Voters didn't ask for this mid-cycle mess. The independent commission already drew fair lines. I get the frustration. Politics feels broken. Partisanship divides us. But this hurts everyone. Republicans, Democrats, independents. Our South Placer community loses its unity. Our schools, roads and safety suffer when representation fractures. We can't let this stand. As a community, we must demand fairness. We've done it before. We can do it again. Your voice matters. Let's protect our home. Pete Constant is a professor and Public Policy Department Chair at Jessup University, and a Roseville Joint Union High School Board Trustee.