Redistricting decision stays between the lines

Paul Clinton

SANTA ANA -- Newport Beach is on the move.

As expected, the Orange County Board of Supervisors tentatively

approved new district lines Tuesday that would shift the city out of the

5th District, represented by Tom Wilson, and into the 2nd District.

Jim Silva will represent the city if the plan is approved Aug. 14.

The tentative approval was unanimous.

On Tuesday, the board took public testimony on the new map, known as

“plan 3C.” It had emerged Friday as the leading proposal of 24

possibilities.

“This is a good map for the people of today,” Supervisor Chuck Smith

said. “And it will also be a good map for the future of Orange County

over the next 10 years.”

The board is required by law to redraw district boundaries every

decade after the U.S. census is completed.

Officials in Newport Beach lauded the plan, because it would replace

Wilson, who opposes an airport at the El Toro Marine Corps Air Station,

with pro-airport advocate Silva.

“The city of Newport Beach would look favorably on that,” Newport

Beach Councilman Dennis O’Neil said.

Still, he added, Wilson had done much for the city.

Wilson has lobbied for more county money for a $35-million dredging

project, water-quality studies in the Back Bay, limits on John Wayne

Airport and other issues favorable to Newport Beach, O’Neil said.

The board began the process of redrawing the lines in October by

appointing members of each supervisor’s staff to a redistricting

committee. Of those dozen meetings came the plan approved Tuesday.

“I believe it takes into account the concern of each of the

districts,” Wilson said. “I believe it is the result of a best-effort

objective.”

However, not everyone is happy with the plan. Members of the League of

United Latin American Citizens said they hoped the number of Latinos

could be increased in several districts.

“We didn’t get everything we wanted,” said the group’s policy

director, Art Montez. “We got about 90%.”

Under the new plan, Santa Ana is united in the 1st District.

A handful of other cities will be shuffled into other districts in the

plan. Only two cities will be split into two districts, compared to 13

under the present alignment.

With El Toro the issue of the day, Airport Working Group spokesman

Dave Ellis said Silva makes more sense as Newport Beach’s supervisor than

Wilson.

“We’ll have a supervisor who reflects Newport Beach,” Ellis said.

“Silva’s always been reflective of the city’s position.”