We should all be congratulated for our efforts in advocating for the SCV. One of our volunteers counted the responses received by the California Restricting Commission (CRC) from L.A. County and over half of it came from us! I personally want to thank the City of Santa Clarita, SCV Chamber of Commerce, Castaic Lake Water Agency, Hart School District, College of the Canyons, Castaic Town Council and West Ranch Town Council for pushing that our valley remains whole.

However, the schedule gets accelerated from here as the CRC will be issuing new iterations of district maps every two weeks, until their final vote on Monday, August 15th.

Also, other communities now realize they need to be advocating so we will have to do an even better job so we can be heard through the cacophony of requests. Let’s go through the districts real quick and then we can discuss next steps.

Jeff Wilson with SCVtalk.com compared Friday morning’s release to NFL Draft Day and I agree with him.  There were some shocking moments and a few pleasant surprises.

Congress: The CRC took Newhall south of Lyons Ave. and placed it is a new SFV-based Latino seat.  The CRC is mandated under Section 2 of the federal Voting Rights Act to create Majority-Minority districts.  I received numerous calls on Friday saying, “We have got to fight this.’’ My advice: let it go.  The CRC is not going to change the seat.  The proposed district is based in SCV and wanders to Simi Valley/Moorpark to the west and takes in Palmdale and portions of Lancaster to the east.  Buck McKeon will continue to represent us.

Assembly: This was a pleasant surprise!  SCV is kept intact (with the exception of Aqua Dulce) and heads down the 118 Freeway Corridor and picks up the affluent conclave of Bell Canyon.  This should remain a seat dominated by SCV.

Senate: It’s a mess!  The current lines start at Gorman heads south to Malibu and then proceeds east to Westwood.  Two commissioners at the Friday post-map release press conference stated this district map will change radically.

Next Steps:

Our first step is to advocate for Aqua Dulce being included in the Assembly seat. (I know some people would also like to see Acton, but Antelope Valley will fight us on that – so let’s achieve what is achievable).  Even if you have sent a prior message to the CRC regarding Aqua Dulce please do so again.  The commission has split our community in all three maps and I think this is our best argument.

Log onto http://www.wedrawthelines.ca.gov/ , Click on the box: “Tell Us What You Think”; Subject: Santa Clarita Valley Assembly Seat – Aqua Dulce

Your Message:

The CRC has split our community in the Assembly, Senate and Congressional District. Please add Aqua Dulce to the SCV Assembly District

Please Attend the Next Hearing:

The next public hearing will be on Thursday, June 16th, Culver City City Hall Chambers, 9770 Culver Boulevard, Culver City.  The hearing is from 6:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.

Proposed Strategies:

Congressional: I believe the congressional seat is a done deal.  If you like it, please let the commission know.  If you don’t, I’m sorry!

Assembly: Advocate for the inclusion of Aqua Dulce.

Senate: I’m heading to Sacramento on Monday to meet with a redistricting expert on what we can do to fix this seat.  I also believe the SCV Chamber will be holding a strategy session this week to discuss.  I’ll report back to you when I have more information.

Again, thank you so much for all your efforts.

Scott Wilk