A refreshing change
01/12/2012
It’s been a long time coming. For years, congressional and assembly districts have been carved out by politicians, so meticulously drawn as to include just one house off the beaten path to win the party seat. Because of gerrymandering, politicians have remained comfortable in their positions for decades, including Republican right-wing conservative Rep. Elton Gallegly of Simi Valley, who seemed to rely on dedicated constituents who had been more or less hand-picked through district lines. But in 2012, politics in California, and specifically in Ventura County, appear to be headed in a new, seemingly positive direction, thanks to two new laws passed by Californians.
Voters decided in 2010 to expand the law passed in 2008 to redraw congressional districts as well as state assembly districts. They had apparently had enough of legislators writing their own ticket into office; and over the last year, a special commission representing communities, not politicians, finalized the new maps. This year, the new districts finally went into effect and the biggest uproar locally was Gallegly’s new district. The former 24th District, now the 26th District, which includes Agoura Hills, Camarillo, Moorpark, Newbury Park, Ojai, Oxnard, Thousand Oaks and Ventura, appears to lean a bit more left than right, though it could easily be declared a wild card. His districts (24, 23 and 21) served him well as his constituents kept him in office for 25 years. (Should he choose to stick with his home district, he would be running against fellow Republican Howard “Buck” McKeon of Santa Clarita.) On Saturday, Jan. 7, however, he announced that he would retire. One can’t help but wonder who would have been in office if district boundaries had always rested in the hands of voters and been drawn by citizens.
Just a few days after Gallegly’s announcement, Republican County Supervisor Linda Parks of Thousands Oaks stated her intention to run for the 26th District. The new district had already attracted a few known contenders, including progressive liberal County Supervisor Steve Bennett; conservative state Sen. Tony Strickland, R-Thousand Oaks, is expected to announce his run for the seat soon. But what makes Parks’ election campaign unique in comparison to, really, any other we have seen in the county, is that for a partisan seat, she has decided to declare “no party preference.”
Too many of us have relied on partisan politics to ensure that our ways of doing things remain steadfast on Capitol Hill and in Sacramento. As long as they were blue, red or green or whatever the preference, that’s where our votes would go. It didn’t matter exactly who the people were that represented us as long as their parties were clear. Over the years, though, more voters in general have begun to shift gears, some claiming that they have become fiscally conservative, yet socially minded, eco-friendly, etc. We were voting for whatever party best suited our moral compass because that evolution hadn’t been translated into politics. In June 2010, though, California voters did away with the two-party primary and replaced it with the two top vote-getters. Enter Parks. Taking advantage of the new law, it is pretty clear that Parks is geared up to fight the battle to best fill the position, not to be the best Republican.
It’s refreshing to see such a progressive stance in politics. While we are still wary that campaigning could get dirty, that it could turn into mudslinging instead of being about pride in accomplishments and future goals, we stand by Parks in her decision to put down the partisan mascot. We hope to see similar strides as the political atmosphere shifts into a truer representation of what and who Ventura County is.
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