The redistricting process is a mixed bag for Malibu, which would be separated in the state Senate from Santa Monica, with which it shares a school district. In the state Assembly, Malibu would be cut off from nearby cities Calabasas, Westlake Village and Hidden Hills.
By Knowles Adkisson / The Malibu Times
Malibu is separated from nearby cities which share key interests related to education, transportation and the environment in the preliminary final maps for California’s redrawn legislative districts, released Friday. In the state Senate, Malibu would be placed in a separate district from Santa Monica, with which it shares a school district. It would also be separated in the state Assembly from nearby cities Calabasas, Westlake Village and Hidden Hills.
The lines were drawn by the California Citizens Redistricting Commission, a panel of five Republicans, five Democrats and four not affiliated with either party, to reflect population shifts following the 2010 U.S. Census. The preliminary final maps are slated for adoption Aug. 15. They are not expected to change, although they could be challenged in court.
If the districts stay the same, as expected, it would mean that the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District would have to lobby two different state senators on education issues. In the state Assembly, Malibu and nearby cities Calabasas, Westlake Village and Hidden Hills would have to communicate with two separate representatives as well.
Sandra Lyon, SMMUSD’s new superintendent, said being separated from Malibu in the state Senate will complicate the district’s lobbying efforts.
“It definitely will make it a little more work on our part, not having the concerted voice that we can have with one person who represents us and really feels connected to the district as a whole,” Lyon said.
Lyon said the district, which receives much of its funding from the state government in Sacramento, relies on strong relationships with its elected representatives.
“A lot of times [the issues are] about cuts that are facing schools and education and funding. So you really want to be able to lobby and work with your representatives to have them understand what the impact’s going to be on the school district,” Lyon said. “Having to have two of those conversations for one district obviously is not as simple as having one person represent us.”
Malibu Mayor John Sibert called the final maps “the lesser of two evils.” In the final draft before the maps were released, Malibu had been separated in the senate from nearby cities in its Council of Governments (COG) – Calabasas, Westlake Village, Hidden Hills and Agoura Hills. The COG cities, along with Santa Monica and the Pacific Palisades, work together on environmental issues related to the Santa Monica Mountains watershed, which empties into the ocean, primarily in Malibu. They also share the transportation corridor formed by the 101 and 405 freeways, Pacific Coast Highway and the canyon roads that connect them. City officials had worried that the small cities would lose their voice if they were placed in separate Senate districts.
Sibert flew to Sacramento a week before the maps were released to plead the city’s case before the commission. When asked by Commissioner Stanley Forbes if Malibu would rather be grouped with the COG cities in the Santa Monica Mountains or with Santa Monica and the rest of Santa Monica Bay, Sibert told him Malibu would prefer to stay with the COG cities.
“Its a bad choice either way,” Sibert said. “But given those choices this is what I think we’d prefer.
“With the COG together, we’re 85,000 people in a district of 900,000,” Sibert said. “So at least we can speak with a common voice, and with 10 percent of the vote of a district you get heard.
Sibert called the Assembly district “livable.”
“It’s going to be with us for 10 years, and we’re just going to have to figure out how we deal with it,” Sibert said. “Because the important thing for Malibu is that we can get the things done that we need to do as a city.”