While redistricting in California is supposed to be led by impartial citizen committees, we hear stories daily about which consultant group from which political leaning is sticking his/her thumb into the redistricting process. It isn’t our issue, so we smile politely, nod, and get back to work.
Except when weird things are happening for water representation.
There is a movement to split San Joaquin County into three different Assembly Districts: 1) East County – where some groups don’t want to share flows with the Delta; 2) South County which in some places takes water from the Delta pumps, and will now be lumped in with water districts that favor the tunnel and voluntary agreements; 3) and the Stockton corridor, the urban Delta.
All three of these regions will be separated in terms of representation from the interior Delta, which will be part of another Assembly District.
These efforts for carving up the Delta for political gain remind us of what transpired in pre-war Poland. It also makes us wonder which political consultants have stuck their thumbs into the political pie for which Delta project or export goals.