| Timm Herdt questions the size of the districts
by Brian Leubitz
When the dreams of a constitutional convention were high around here, we often said that one of the first structural reforms would be the size and shape of the Legislature. The idea of a unicameral Assembly of 120 legislators came up again and again. But when you really look at the numbers, as Timm Herdt did today, they are simply shocking:
The size of the Legislature - 80 Assembly members, 40 senators - was established in 1879. At the time, there were fewer than 1 million people living here. Today, there are 37.3 million. That means that an Assembly district must contain about 465,000 people and each Senate district about 931,000. ...
How big is a Senate district? Five of the 50 states have fewer people. The districts are 10 times larger than the national average, three times bigger than those in the second-place state, Texas.(VC Starvcstar.com )
And, as somebody who grew up in Texas, there is a big caveat on that Texas figure. While the 31 Texas Senate districts are huge, the 150 House districts are far more manageable. So, while you don't normally know who your Senator is, I always knew, personally, my representative. In fact, I went to school with his children.
Of course, I know my Legislators now, but I work in politics. I expect that very few Californians can even name their legislators, let alone say that they have spoken to them personally. It is physically impossible.
But the question became more clear with the redistricting process, as various pockets and enclaves fought for their own interests. The people of American Canyon fought separation from Napa County and inclusion with Sonoma tooth and nail. And Santa Rosa was not thrilled being shipped west.
But, wouldn't it just make sense for Santa Rosa to have its own district? It is certainly a large enough population to merit that. I'm not arguing for New Hampshire size districts, which are only about 3400 people/district. However, districts of about 100,000 would make a lot of sense. Now, that would net us nearly 400 members of the legislature. However, if done right (and with a smaller staff for each member) it wouldn't cost all that much more money while making government a lot more transparent and approachable.
Put that one in your initiative process and vote on it. Well, maybe not until the budget has stabilized for a while...
UPDATE: It turns out that Students for California's Future has a nice little report on this subject. Check it out here for some of the possible options on creating a bigger Legislature. |
