Citizens Redistricting Commission Release Official Draft Maps on June 10, 2011

Over 1,355 speakers have given testimony and thousands of others submitted written comments in public comment on California redistricting.

“It has been exciting to watch community leaders, working moms, environmentalists, and farmers come to testify about their communities,” stated Kathay Feng, Executive Director of California Common Cause. “Not only has the Citizens Commission maintained an impressive schedule of community hearings, each commissioner has shown attentiveness and respect for members of the public who have come to testify. For the many Californians who have sacrificed time and expense to actively participate in the process and provide the Commission with their views, knowing that someone is really listening means a lot.”

While the Citizens Redistricting Commission got off to a rocky start as it had to create all processes from scratch, they and staff have worked to make the entire process open and transparent. Video of all meetings can be watched live online, www.wedrawthelines.com. Tweeting and parallel website resources at www.redistrictingCA.org help to capture the testimony and additional data.

The maps of districts expected to be released on June 10 are drafts. Starting June 16th, the Citizens Commission will travel around the state to receive feedback on these draft maps (hearing details can be found at www.wedrawthelines.com). The hearing dates include:

June 16: Culver City

June 17: Whittier

June 18: Fullerton

June 19: San Bernardino

June 20: San Diego

June 22: Oxnard

June 23: Fresno

June 24: Stockton

June 25: San Jose

June 27: San Francisco

June 28, 29, 30: Sacramento

Individuals can also email comments to: votersfirstact@crc.ca.gov.