Heather Barbour

Size Matters in Remapping State Legislative Boundaries

Articles — Sun, 10 Jul 2005 00:00:00 -0400

If we really want to do something about our electile dysfunction, we're going to have to do a lot more than pop a redistricting pill.

Thanks in large part to Dr. Schwarzenegger, Californians will be voting on a prescription for redistricting reform this November. But while a more neutral drawing of legislative district boundaries may lessen the symptoms of California's political disorder, it won't cure the disease. The real problem in California politics is the size of legislative districts -- as measured by population, not their shape.

In 1879, when Californians set the 120-seat ceiling on our state Legislature,… more

Fixing California's Broken Government

Articles — Fri, 29 Apr 2005 00:00:00 -0400

Prospects for the governor's controversial redistricting initiative have grown appropriately dim. Whatever its ultimate fate, Schwarzenegger has done a good and decent thing in using his considerable bully pulpit power to raise awareness about the relatively obscure, but important issue of political gerrymandering. Without his call to arms, the powers that be in Sacramento almost certainly would have continued ignoring the very obvious problems with our process for drawing legislative districts lines. They're paying attention now.

But political gerrymandering is only one small symptom of a far more deadly disease.Why waste all that energy on something that won't cure us?… more

The View from California

Articles — Mon, 18 Apr 2005 00:00:00 -0400

If what is happening in California is a leading indicator, and it usually is, many critical science and technology (S&T) policy debates are migrating from Washington to state capitals and even to local polling places. Unfortunately, the procedural, institutional, and human capacity for informed policymaking at these levels is often not as well developed as it is at the national level, which can result in confusing, contradictory, and short-sighted policy outcomes. Therefore, some attention to the health and functioning of non-national political processes and institutions, especially in California, is warranted.

Although federal dollars will always keep a good… more

To Boost Service, Legislature Needs More Workers on Floor

Articles — Thu, 31 Mar 2005 00:00:00 -0500

Politics is a customer-service industry. I found myself contemplating this as I made my way, like 22 million other Americans, to Home Depot for my spring gardening project.

As any shopper knows, the more clerks on duty, the better the service. Home Depot employs one associate for every 68 customers. By comparison, California citizens employ one state senator for every 850,000 people and one Assembly member for every 450,000.

It's no wonder surveys show we're deeply disgruntled with our Legislature. The ratio of customers -- we, the people -- to elected representatives is way off.

In California, 120 legislators serve… more

Redistricting Won't Cure What Ails California

Articles — Mon, 21 Feb 2005 00:00:00 -0500

In his state of the state address, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger asked for a "21st century government to match a 21st century world." He challenged Californians to bring him "big ideas to match our future." But his plan to redraw the lines for new political districts is not a "big idea." It's an improvement, because it would achieve a less polarized and more representative government. But voters have rejected new methods for redistricting before and -- even if it passed this time -- it would leave in place a 19th century Legislature.

It has been 125 years since California changed the number… more

Slice 'N Dice: Smaller legislative districts will yield more lawmakers, more accountability and better decision making.

Articles — Sat, 01 Jan 2005 00:00:00 -0500

Last November, many California voters went to the polls and chose a state senator for themselves and nearly 900,000 of their closest neighbors. In practical terms, this meant working-class Californians living in small, rural, mountainous towns near the Oregon border are represented by the same person advocating on behalf of voters living in wealthy Sacramento suburbs. Can this one legislator truly be accountable to the needs and interests of hundreds of thousands of people living in such disparate circumstances?

Of course not. California's legislative districts are too big and their unwieldy proportions seriously obscure the real diversity in California's lifestyles and politics.

When America's founders devised our republic, they envisioned districts that each contained… more