Fresno County supervisors are making sure their fiefdoms will continue to flourish

This was supposed to be the year when the biennial redistricting of county supervisor districts throughout the Latino-majority San Joaquín Valley would produce better odds of boosting Latino representation on boards that decide how billions of dollars of state and federal funds are spent.

That outlook came not just because of demographic changes — increased numbers in Latino-majority Fresno, Tulare, Madera, Kings, Kern, and Merced counties, and growing pluralities in Stanislaus and San Joaquín counties — but because of a state law that wasn’t around 10 years ago that mandates how supervisors’ districts are to be drawn.

That optimism vanished as quickly as your dollar in a slot machine.

The status quo never budged.

Blame pure power grabs that assure white men will continue to exercise oversized power (they are the minority throughout the Valley) on decisions that will impact the overwhelming majority of their constituents.

Blame baked-in racism. Some speakers at public hearings did not defend their map choice, but painted community groups pushing for change as “socialist Democrats” who only want “to destroy America.”

Yes, they’re afraid of maps proposed by the Dolores Huerta Foundation, which is led by a 91-year-old woman.

Blame a sham advisory board process that ignored recommendations that could have easily been sent to the shredder for a bigger impact.

Ten years ago, there was little fanfare when the Fresno County Board of Supervisors made slight adjustments to its districts. The same with neighboring counties.

This time, the state Fair and Inclusive Redistricting for Municipalities and Political Subdivisions (FAIR MAPS) Act changed all that. Community organizations, most backed by the Huerta foundation, began educating residents about the impacts of redistricting and how their concerns could be addressed better by having supervisors with shared interests.

Residents began their efforts in February

Led by Lori Pesante, the foundation’s director of civic engagement/government relations, community members began meeting in February to discuss demographics, community needs and how districts could be revised.

Their criteria, she said, was following the new legislation authored by then-Assemblymember Rob Bonta (now state Attorney General) that was expected to be a game-changer in how political districts at the city and county levels are drawn to give greater weight to communities of interest.

Press conferences called for changes, residents testified how current representation has been lacking to county redistricting commissions, and communities drew maps they believed would result in better chances of more minority representation.

“There’s an opportunity to reshape the types of services, or lack of services, that never trickled down to these rural areas,” said Eliseo Gamiño at an Oct. 20 press conference.

Such community involvement is rare. Dozens spoke at hearings. Hundreds of signatures were collected in support of the equity maps.

But the foundation-backed maps were shot down in Fresno and Visalia. In Hanford, the Valley Voices-backed map remains alive.

“I’m disappointed,” said Juan Arámbula, a member of the Central California Coalition for Equitable Realignment, the day after the Fresno County board rejected the group’s map despite support from at least 36 of the 46 people who provided comments at the nearly five-hour hearing.

Foundation efforts called “a Latino power grab”

A sample of what was heard.

“We have a group here that is anti-American flag. Yes, I said it. They’re calling on segregation. That’s what their redistricting is. I don’t think they understand the Constitution.”

“It’s pretty sad that some of these people have lived in this country for quite awhile and they don’t have enough respect for this country to try to learn its language.”

“Democrats only want to destroy the fabric of America. They have just one purpose: To destroy this country.”

“We’re gerrymandering (if a district has more than 65% Latinos). We’re the minority here and we need to be looked after.”

“I see by the Census that I’m a minority. Don’t radically change our living, our culture, our society.”

“This is just a Latino power grab.”

Those are rich comments considering Latino political representation has never come close to equaling its population at the county level. Their communities — along with those of other minority groups — often have the worst roads, no sidewalks, unhealthy air, terrible water, and little hope for improvement.

Sure, let Fresno Supervisor Buddy Mendes complain that a tiny school district and a cemetery district get split by the equity coalition map and use that as his excuse for rejecting it. Why not ask for minor changes?

Why not complain that the Westlands Water District is split up among two districts, or that Clovis remains split in two? Or complain about the 1½-hour drive it takes to go from Coalinga to Orange Cove in the same district?

Wouldn’t it be better to have the West Hills Community College District largely served by one supervisor? Why have two dairy farmers on the board, but no farmworker representative?

Why would Supervisor Brian Pacheco refuse to join colleague Sal Quintero in accepting the equity map and force the board to compromise for a solution when a 4-1 vote is required to adopt any redistricting map? Why signal defeat so soon? A 3-2 vote would send the redistricting matter to a Fresno County Superior Court judge.

In Tulare County, the advisory commission heavily supported the equity coalition map only to see it summarily dismissed because it lumped the mountain region into one district and split the city of Tulare into two districts. What? Split the mountain region but not the city?

Other Latino-majority counties don’t fare better

Fresno and Tulare counties are not alone. Of the 11 counties in California with a Latino majority, only three — Imperial (3), Monterey (2) and San Benito (2) — have more than one Latino on the board of supervisors. It doesn’t hurt that Imperial County’s Latino population is more than 85%.

San Bernardino County — with more than 1 million Latinos that make it the second-largest county in the country with a Latino majority — has one Latino on its board of supervisors.

Why should Fresno County, the country’s fifth-largest county with a Latino majority, be stuck with only one Latino on its board?

Imagine the outrage if the tables were reversed and Fresno County had four Latinas and one white male on the board where 4-1 votes were common.

“I think the time has come to look at requiring counties to set up independent commissions outside of their control to make these decisions because (the boards) just have too much self-interest,” said Arámbula, who pushed for independent commissions to draw districts for state districts when he served in the Assembly.

Until the supervisors lose the power to decide their districts, they will continue to rule their fiefdoms as they see fit.

Esta historia fue publicada originalmente el 5 de noviembre de 2021, 5:19 p. m..