Local political leaders rip county redistricting plan as corrupt, call for its reversal
Word that the county Supervisors bizarrely moved forward with the discredited, labor-backed Yellow "Unity" redistricting map (see here) prompted widespread condemnation across the local political spectrum. Councilwoman Dev Davis, Councilmember Matt Mahan, and Planning Commission Pierluigi Oliverio chime in with their concerns.
Dev Davis:
"I am floored and very disappointed that the labor-backed Yellow Redistricting Map made it through the county Supervisors' review and I hope the Supervisors come to their senses and reverse their decision.
"We have district boundaries for a reason--to preserve communities of interest and to equalize population groupings.
"To make wholesale changes to the districts to benefit certain political groups and to the detriment of other political groups--and individual candidates--is flat wrong.
"As we go into the city redistricting process I will take special care to keep our district boundaries as close to what they have historically been, understanding that they may need to be tweaked to balance out changes in population."
--SJ Councilwoman Dev Davis
Matt Mahan:
"I'm disappointed by the County’s decision to approve an obviously gerrymandered redistricting map. It doesn’t represent neighborhood or community voices — just those of political special interest groups hoping to manufacture election results for their preferred faction.
"We need to center policy discussions, and especially ones regarding redistricting, around neighborhoods, not politics. I’ll continue to advocate for a common sense approach to redistricting in San Jose and hope that my colleagues agree."
--SJ Councilmember Matt Mahan
Pierluigi Oliverio:
"Nobody disputes that the elected officials get to draw the redistricting lines in local government, as long as they meet legal standards.
"But there is absolutely no way those officials can draw maps in a way that excludes the opponents of their preferred (and already endorsed!) candidates and say it's innocent. But that's exactly what's happened in the county and it defies credulity.
"This is a blatant conflict of interest and shouldn't stand.”
"This specific union-backed power play is why people don't trust government. The outcome sits squarely with the current elected board, and it is not enough to vote no, they must speak out now.
"The Supervisors are acting like there are no consequences for this kind of brazen behavior, and that kind of hubris just leads to trouble."
--Planning Commissioner Pierluigi Oliverio
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