Where Idyllwild lands in state redistricting

Last week the 2020 California Citizens Redistricting Commission released its proposed final maps for the 52 congressional, 40 state Senate, 80 Assembly and four board of equalization districts. The commission was going to accept public comment for three days before submitting the final maps to the California Secretary of State.

“We have reached the finish line for the people’s redistricting process in California. When voters approved the Voters FIRST Act, it created a monumental shift in this decennial process,” Commission Chair Alicia Fernandez emphasized in the commission’s press release. “… We started this process leaving politics out of the equation in hopes of achieving fairer and more equitable maps. I think I speak for my colleagues when I say mission accomplished.”

Among the commission’s criteria for drawing the maps were to ensure they were contiguous, so that all parts of the district are connected to each other, to minimize the division of cities, counties, neighborhoods and communities of interest to the extent possible, and to make them geographically compact: such that nearby areas of population are not bypassed for a more distant population.

While that may have been the goal for each type of district, the treatment of the Hill communities seems quite different when the different types of districts are compared.

For example, Idyllwild and Pine Cove are in a district that extends west to Orange County, another that includes southern San Bernardino County and the third’s southern boundary in San Diego County is only miles from the Mexican border.

Congressional

Idyllwild, Pine Cove, Mountain Center and Anza are located in the new 41st Congressional District. Its western boundary is the border between Orange and Riverside counties.

It includes Norco, Corona, Temescal Valley and Wildomar. Although Riverside city and Mead Valley are in the 39th District, the 41st lies south of these cities and then north to Cherry Valley and the San Bernardino County line. The 41st moves south again, but Banning, San Jacinto, Hemet and Valle Vista are assigned to the 25th District.

From Menifee and Sage, the 41st travels east to include Anza, the Hill and the desert cities of Palm Springs, Palm Desert, Indian Wells and La Quinta, but not Cathedral City.

The Hill and the desert cities will no longer be represented by U.S. Rep. Dr. Raul Ruiz. His new district passes north of the Hill and south into Imperial County.

However, Republican U.S. Rep. Ken Calvert did announce he would seek re-election for the new 41st District.

In his Facebook statement, he wrote, “Today, I’m announcing my intention to run for election in the newly drawn 41st Congressional District in 2022. As many of you know, I’m a lifelong resident of Corona, which is the largest city in the newly drawn 41st Congressional District …

“I am eager to continue advocating for the solutions Riverside County needs in Washington. I have had the honor of representing the bulk of the new 41st Congressional District before and I look forward to serving them again in the House of Representatives …,” Calvert continued. “During my time in the House, I have developed the bipartisan relationships, committee assignments and seniority necessary to deliver meaningful results for my constituents.”

State Senate

The 40 State Senate districts are supposed to be twice the population of the Assembly districts.

Idyllwild and Pine Cove are located in Senate District (SD) 32, but Pinewood and north of Pine Cove are assigned to Senate District 19 (which continues north to the boundary between San Bernardino and Inyo counties).

SD 32’s western edge is Chino Hills and Yorba Linda, then it narrowly snakes southwest to include Lake Elsinore, Menifee, Wildomar and Temecula.

It continues southwest and includes the San Diego County cities of Palomar Mountain, Warner Springs and Julian. From the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park it turns north to Pinyon Crest and Ribbonwood. All of the desert cities are in different districts.

The proposed district’s estimated population is about 940,000, which is about 48,000 fewer than the average for the 40 districts.

State Assembly

Only Idyllwild, Pine Cove and north are in Assembly District 47. Garner Valley, Anza and Aguanga are in Assembly District 36.

District 47 does include the desert cities from La Quinta north to Desert Hot Springs. Valle Vista, Beaumont and Banning are on the western side of the district.

The northern portion of the district includes Cherry Valley and the San Bernardino communities of Yucaipa and Yucca Valley, but not Twenty-nine Palms.

From there it drops into Riverside County to include Joshua Tree National Park, but remains north of Interstate 10 to, but excluding Desert Center.

District 47’s estimated population is about 518,700, which is about 24,600 more than the average for the 80 districts.

Board of Equalization

The commission reduced the size of the board of equalization to four seats from the current five members.

The 4th Board of Equalization District is composed of four Southern California counties — Imperial, Orange, Riverside and San Diego.