Friday, May 27, 2011

Governor Brown Issues Memorial Day Proclamation

PROCLAMATION BY THE GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA


On Memorial Day, we pay tribute to Americans who have suffered and died in war.

The custom of marking this day originated just after the Civil War. To help heal the wounds of war, Americans in all parts of the country began decorating the graves of the dead with flowers, a universal symbol of the renewal of life. As a small step in the lengthy task of reuniting a nation divided, we chose to honor all the dead, Union and Confederate, regardless of our own allegiances during that terrible struggle. After the First World War, we expanded our observance to honor all Americans who have fought and died in any of our nation’s wars. In 1971, the United States Congress declared Memorial Day to be a national holiday observed on the last Monday in May.

Today, I ask all Californians to pay tribute to our fallen military heroes. In their memory, I have ordered that flags be flown at half-staff on all state buildings and grounds throughout the state.


NOW THEREFORE I, EDMUND G. BROWN JR., Governor of the State of California, do hereby proclaim May 30, 2011, as “Memorial Day.”

Thursday, May 26, 2011

Goldsmith leaves it to Seiler to rule on Marquez

Matt Hall has the scoop at the SDUT.

In brief, Goldsmith concurs that no laws have been broken and clarifies that the final ruling about Marquez's residency for voter registration purposes can be determined by the Registrar of Voters or a court. After consulting with County Counsel, the City Attorney has asked the Registrar of Voters to rule.

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

The Latest Republican Temper Tantrum

The following is from the latest "Blue View" by SDCDP Chair Jess Durfee.

On every school playground there's a type of spoiled brat who wants a do-over as soon as he thinks he's losing. Or, even worse, who tries to change the rules in the middle of the game.

Consider the San Diego Republican Party and their clumsy, whiny attempts to influence the redistricting process in the City of San Diego. Of course, the outcome of this fight is far from trivial.

Struggling for relevance in a city that over the years has become more diverse and more Democratic, Republicans seem to think they can railroad the process by submitting their own set of maps and discrediting the Redistricting Commission itself.

In a PowerPoint presentation they made to the commission this month -- partisan right down to the elephant in their logo -- they offered a gerrymandered map of districts contorted to make a Republican majority on the City Council. This despite the fact that they're far outnumbered by Democrats, and close to falling behind independent voters in the city. By law, the commission can't even consider feedback from a political party.

Betraying their evident fear of greater racial diversity on the City Council, the Republicans warned commissioners that "race can't be your motive" in drawing districts, though the law actually requires the consideration of race to empower "communities of interest."

When that didn't seem to be working, the Party hired one of their own officers to spy on a commissioner for a week, leading to a trumped-up charge that he's not really a San Diegan. That commissioner, a Democrat with deep roots in the city, just happens to be the only Latino and the only gay person on the panel.

The commission and the community were unimpressed by their antics, so yesterday the Republican Party Chair, Tony Krvaric, sued the City of San Diego to dispute the whole process. He claims that the judges who picked the commissioners (both judges appointed by a Republican governor) were illegitimate. In other words, he wants a do-over.

More of the public's time and money will now be wasted in court. Still, I don't think the result will change. The Republican Party might not accept the diversity of our city in the 21st century, but that's their problem, not ours. The Redistricting Commissioners -- Democrats, Republicans, and independents -- have an important job to do for San Diego. It's time for them to get on with the people's work.

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

San Diego Redistricting Maps

As a public service, we are going to show some of the proposed maps that have been presented to the City's Redistricting Commission. Below are the current lines.



This is the Coast & Canyons which is an effort to keep District 1 together.



Next up is the Asian Pacific American Coalition map.



Followed by the San Diego Republican Party map.



And we close with the Community in Unity map.

These maps require magnification to tease out their finer points. We are posting these to give the readers a vague sense of where the lines have been proposed.

We were unable to find a copy of the SDCTA map but we did find, on the site of the firm that did their map, links to PDFs from Columbia Law School that proposes Congressional lines.










Sunday, May 22, 2011

San Diego Rostra welcomes SD Politico back

We here at SD Politico tip our hat to San Diego Rostra and thank them for welcoming us back. We are still in the process of re-tooling and hope to be at full strength in a few weeks. Until then, we will contribute what local coverage, tips, and thoughts we can from the left side of the aisle.

See Jim Sills post about SD Politico at San Diego Rostra here.