SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) — San Francisco’s redistricting fight brought a crowd to city hall Friday as the debate over how districts will be determined raged on.
The new maps are due within days, but the fight over what they look like — and how they’re being drawn up — is only intensifying.
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“So we have a lot of growth that is mostly on the inside, and that means the west side districts, in order for all the districts to be the same size.” said Sharky Laguana, a San Francisco resident and member of the Small Business Commission. “They are going to have to move to the east. The result, for districts in the middle, like District 5, is they’re being stretched like taffy.”
Potential district line changes invariably create tensions. The proposed new maps have generated pushback from many corners of the city.
“Keep all of us together,” said Uzuri Pease-Greene. “Leave Tenderloin with SOMA, like they’re asking for and — oh my God, now you’re trying to separate the Western Addition from Japantown? These are relationships that have been built.”
“So that’s why we’re here today,” said John McCormick. “To try to remove these commissioners. That I believe would be the next step in the process.”
And that was Friday’s escalation; the Election Commission met to consider calls for pulling its three appointed members from the redistricting task force. Those members were called to defend their work.
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“I don’t think we have to defend ourselves,” Redistricting Task Force member Ditka Reiner told KPIX 5 after rejecting accusations of political bias before the Elections Commission.
“And I think we’re doing a good job,” Reiner said. “But we can’t please most people. And we have so many special interests. That’s what makes San Francisco great. But that’s what makes our job so hard.”
The move to change the board, just ahead of the April 15th completion date has sparked a backlash, those who feel disrupting the process would itself be anti-democratic.
“I think what we need to do is let them finish their work,” Laguana said. “When that process is complete, if there is still a feeling that the final map that is generated has some element in it that is not consistent or compliant with the law, let that be handled by ordinary legal remedies like the court system.”
“We’re going to be here,” Reiner said before her task force meeting.
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“We have sleeping bags here. We will be here all night if we have to be and we will be all night tomorrow night if you have to be. But we’re going to get it done.”
Source: sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com.