SB 1414, the case for independent redistricting

Who should have the final say over the boundaries of the districts from which our elected officials are chosen?

That is the simple question at the heart of Senate Bill 1414.

For the past several weeks, opponents of my legislation have argued that San Bernardino County voters already answered that question when they approved Measure J in 2020. They contend that changing the county’s redistricting structure now would disregard the will of the people and attempt to fix a process that isn’t broken.

I respect the voters’ decision on Measure J.

But voters were never asked the question SB 1414 addresses today: Should San Bernardino County’s redistricting commission be advisory, or should it be independent and have final authority over district maps?

That distinction is important.

Measure J made several changes to the San Bernardino County Charter and required the Board of Supervisors to establish a redistricting commission. The advisory commission subsequently established by the Board provides opportunities for public participation and recommends maps.

But the Board of Supervisors retains final authority over the boundaries of its own districts.

SB 1414 changes that.

Beginning with the redistricting process following the 2030 Census, the bill would establish an independent commission with final authority to adopt San Bernardino County’s supervisorial district map.

An advisory commission advises. An independent commission decides.

That isn’t semantics. It is the fundamental policy question before us.

There is value in public hearings, community testimony, and citizen recommendations. But if residents are going to have a meaningful voice in how they are represented, their participation should be part of a process independent from the elected officials whose districts are being drawn.

A voice without authority is still just advice.

Some have also asked: Why change a process that isn’t broken?

My answer is that good government should demand something more than the absence of a crisis.

We don’t have to wait for a process to fail before asking whether we can make it more independent, transparent, and accountable to the public.

And this should not be about whether anyone trusts or distrusts the five people serving on the Board of Supervisors today.

Independence is about the process, not the politicians.

Good-government rules should work regardless of who holds office, which party is in power or who will be sitting in those seats ten years from now.

Redistricting happens once every decade, and the boundaries drawn through that process determine which communities are represented together for years afterward. The people elected from those districts should not have final authority over drawing them.

California has already embraced that principle elsewhere. Our statewide legislative and congressional districts are drawn by an independent Citizens Redistricting Commission, and independent commissions have been established in multiple California counties.

SB 1414 brings that principle to San Bernardino County.

Under the bill, commissioners would be selected through an application and screening process designed to separate the commission from the elected officials whose districts it will draw. The commission would conduct its work publicly, with hearings and opportunities for residents throughout the county to participate.

Most importantly, its final map would not be subject to approval or modification by the Board of Supervisors.

That is the difference SB 1414 makes.

I have heard the argument that changing the current structure somehow rejects the will of San Bernardino County voters. I see it differently.

The voters who approved Measure J voted for the question that was put before them. They were not presented with a choice between an advisory redistricting commission and an independent one.

We should be precise about that history rather than asking a 2020 vote to be the final answer to a question voters were never asked.

SB 1414 is now before Governor Gavin Newsom after passing both houses of the Legislature. Whatever one’s view of the legislation, the choice it presents deserves to be understood clearly.

Should elected officials retain final authority over the boundaries of the districts from which they are elected?

Or should that authority rest with an independent commission operating through a transparent, community-driven public process?

I believe the principle is simple:

The people deserve a meaningful voice in who represents them. And voters should choose their representatives—not the other way around.

Call the Governor’s office at (916) 445-2841. Ask him to sign SB 1414. You can also provide a written statement on his website: www.gov.ca.gov/contact.