El Dorado supervisors to devote a session to district remapping
By Carlos Alcalá
Published: Wednesday, Jul. 20, 2011 - 12:00 am | Page 3B
The Sacramento Bee
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Seemingly moved by complaints from El Dorado Hills and Cameron Park residents, El Dorado County supervisors unanimously decided Tuesday to postpone a decision on a redistricting map under discussion.
However, they also limited further discussion in a way that will thwart the desires of the activists in the western part of the county.
"They may as well have just adopted the map," said Rachel Michelin, who spoke representing a new organization, the El Dorado Citizens for Responsible Government, formed in response to the redistricting issue.
El Dorado Hills and Cameron Park residents – with about a third of the county's total population – have lobbied to have redistricting give them two representatives who would be directly beholden to the suburban communities.
The current proposed map, however, has one supervisor representing most of El Dorado Hills, while other parts of El Dorado Hills and Cameron Park are split between districts dominated by rural populations.
Supervisors agreed only to discuss some alterations involving a section of Cameron Park north of Highway 50 and a section of El Dorado Hills south of Highway 50, in supervisorial districts 1 and 2.
"They're not giving us any more representation," Michelin said.
Aside from Supervisor John Knight, who represents much of El Dorado Hills, the supervisors showed little interest in placating the west county activists, who included residents of organizations in Bass Lakes and the Four Seasons development.
Supervisor John Briggs expressed opposition to any changes in the boundaries proposed for District 4, which he represents.
"We can move these lines all day; we're just going to have a mess," Briggs said.
Any further changes are "gerrymandering," he said.
Nevertheless, the Board of Supervisors unanimously voted to have limited additional discussion on the maps at a meeting Aug. 8 dedicated to the matter.
In order to make the statutory deadline to have all the changes in place, "Aug. 16 is really the very last day the board can make any changes," Assistant County Counsel Ed Knapp said.
However, they also limited further discussion in a way that will thwart the desires of the activists in the western part of the county.
"They may as well have just adopted the map," said Rachel Michelin, who spoke representing a new organization, the El Dorado Citizens for Responsible Government, formed in response to the redistricting issue.
El Dorado Hills and Cameron Park residents – with about a third of the county's total population – have lobbied to have redistricting give them two representatives who would be directly beholden to the suburban communities.
The current proposed map, however, has one supervisor representing most of El Dorado Hills, while other parts of El Dorado Hills and Cameron Park are split between districts dominated by rural populations.
Supervisors agreed only to discuss some alterations involving a section of Cameron Park north of Highway 50 and a section of El Dorado Hills south of Highway 50, in supervisorial districts 1 and 2.
"They're not giving us any more representation," Michelin said.
Aside from Supervisor John Knight, who represents much of El Dorado Hills, the supervisors showed little interest in placating the west county activists, who included residents of organizations in Bass Lakes and the Four Seasons development.
Supervisor John Briggs expressed opposition to any changes in the boundaries proposed for District 4, which he represents.
"We can move these lines all day; we're just going to have a mess," Briggs said.
Any further changes are "gerrymandering," he said.
Nevertheless, the Board of Supervisors unanimously voted to have limited additional discussion on the maps at a meeting Aug. 8 dedicated to the matter.
In order to make the statutory deadline to have all the changes in place, "Aug. 16 is really the very last day the board can make any changes," Assistant County Counsel Ed Knapp said.
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