{"id":294481,"date":"2010-10-21T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2010-10-21T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sdnews.com\/re-drawing-district-boundaries-draws-concern\/"},"modified":"2010-10-21T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2010-10-21T07:00:00","slug":"re-drawing-district-boundaries-draws-concern","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/re-drawing-district-boundaries-draws-concern\/","title":{"rendered":"Re-drawing district boundaries draws concern"},"content":{"rendered":"

The city of San Diego will soon see the addition of a ninth City Council District, added to keep council members from deadlocking in 4-4 votes, and some community members hope the redistricting process will bring La Jolla into a single district. The current district map splits La Jolla in two. Most of the community is under the jurisdiction of District 1 Councilwoman Sherri Lightner, with a small southeast portion belonging to Kevin Faulconer\u2019s District 2. Today at 1 p.m., San Diego\u2019s newly-appointed Redistricting Commission will meet for the first time at City Hall, located at 202 West C St., and La Jollans have an opportunity to be part of the process. La Jolla Town Council President Rick Wildman said the tiny part of La Jolla that Faulconer has is not the focus of his entire district. “You can\u2019t break up a community like that,” said Wildman, who has lived in La Jolla for 31 years. “If La Jolla is going to be two districts, divide it equally. But it makes more sense to be in one district.” Both Wildman and Bird Rock Community Council President Joe Parker said they\u2019d like to see La Jolla fall under a single district, although their organizations have not officially taken positions on the matter. The part of Bird Rock that\u2019s in District 2, said Parker, includes only Bird Rock Elementary, the neighboring athletic field and five homes. Joe LaCava, who chairs the La Jolla Community Planning Association, said he\u2019d like to see La Jolla be unified into one district, mainly so La Jollans can clearly understand who their council member is. He also said it would allow La Jolla\u2019s councilmember to be more concentrated in his or her efforts. On the other hand, LaCava said, if a particular issue is very important to La Jolla, having two councilmembers representing the community may mean having more representation on the council as a whole. The creation of a redistricting commission came in 1992, after the San Diego City Council drew some controversial lines and voters changed the city charter to put redistricting in the hands of an independent panel of citizens. This year\u2019s seven-member Redistricting Commission was appointed \u2014 not elected \u2014 on Oct. 1 by two retired Superior Court judges, who chose from 51 applications and nominations. According to the city charter, the judges “shall appoint women and men who will give the Redistricting Commission geographic, social and ethnic diversity, and who, in his or her judgment, have a high degree of competency to carry out the responsibilities of the Commission.” The charter also states that commissioners should have “a demonstrated capacity to serve with impartiality in a nonpartisan role.” There are no La Jolla residents on the panel. The last round of redistricting took place in 2001, and controversial issues included unifying gay communities in City Heights and Asian communities in Claremont, as well as grouping coastal areas with common environmental interests. “There are going to be a lot of interest groups coming into play,” said LaCava. “What\u2019s happened in the past is the people who show up have a greater influence.”