Fresno politicians gamed the system on redistricting. Now comes pitiful ‘Marxist’ whine
The Fresno County Board of Supervisors had their chance to do the right thing, the fair thing, with redistricting.
Instead, the county supes did the thing that politicians tend to do in these situations: They looked out mostly for themselves. The map they chose (drawn by a conservative political operative named Alex Tavlian, then tweaked by county staff) made only perfunctory changes to the old one. Designed to both strengthen the power of incumbency and fortify the board’s Republican majority for another decade.
Which was all fairly obvious, at least to those paying attention, while it was happening.
Earlier this week, cause and effect met up and shook hands. Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Fresno Assemblyman Joaquin Arambula’s AB 2030, which strips the Board of Supervisors’ authority to redraw future district boundaries and hands it to an independent commission whose members will be randomly selected and reflect the electorate’s political registration.
How did our county supes react when greeted with this news?
Rather predictably.
Supervisor Nathan Magsig, as he is wont to do, bemoaned another example of “local control being taken away.” This isn’t an outlandish take, just one that can be easily refuted.
Leave it to Supervisor Buddy Mendes to say something truly ridiculous. Speaking to GV Wire, a website owned by one of Fresno’s biggest developers, Mendes unleashed a conspiracy theory straight from the Alex Jones Institute for Truth.
“It basically gives Marxists activist groups a chance to … they’re going to be the ones that will put all their names in so it would almost be impossible for an average citizen to get put on the so-called redistricting committee,” Mendes bleated.
How pathetic. Does Mendes actually believe his own delusions? Or is this simply another case of a bully reacting like a baby when something doesn’t go his way?
I tend to believe the latter. Mendes and his fellow Republicans on the Board of Supervisors — with the green light from conservative Democrat Brian Pacheco — disregarded both public testimony and recent electorate trends in favor of a map that preserves the status quo. Essentially, they gamed the system in their favor.
Nine months later a higher authority (in this case, Newsom) pulled the plug. And how do our county electeds respond? By whining and spewing mistruths.
AB 2030 is pretty specific about how the 14-member redistricting commission will be formed following the 2030 census, the next time boundary lines get redrawn.
First, a pool of 60 qualified applicants will be selected by the county elections officer. (I’ll explain the qualifications next.) Then, eight members are selected by random drawing with the stipulation that all five districts are represented. Those eight commissioners will then choose the remaining six.
The newly signed law bars anyone who has held or run for public office in the previous 10 years from serving on the redistricting commission. It also prohibits family members of those holding or running for office as well as employees or consultants of those holding or running for office. In addition, commission members are precluded from holding elected office for five years after their service and cannot work as a staffer or consultant for three years.
Sounds like a bunch of average citizens to me. Which is exactly the group Mendes and his ilk are so desperate to fend off. AB 2030 makes it impossible for Republican politicians like him to continue gaming the system.
If Fresno County were still a GOP hotbed, then their antics would be a little closer to acceptable. But it’s not, and clearly so.
A decade ago, the county’s Democrats and Republicans were roughly equal in number. In 2022, that’s no longer the case. The latest voter registration numbers show Democrats with 39.6% of the electorate compared to 32.1% Republican. The third-largest group, No Party Preference voters, make up 20.8% of the electorate with those registered to minor parties making up the remaining 7.5%.
Unless there’s a sudden reversal, Republicans will slip below the 30% threshold in the next couple of election cycles. Yet the boundary lines for Fresno County’s five supervisor districts are drawn to help ensure Republicans maintain seats in three of them until 2032.
AB 2030 ensures that the next time redistricting occurs, the new map will be drawn by a commission that more accurately reflects Fresno County’s current electorate. Actual citizens rather than self-serving politicians.
And you know what? If by then enough Marxists are registered to vote around here to merit a seat or two on the redistricting commission, Mendes needn’t be so fearful. At least no one’s farm or dairy subsidies would be threatened.
