Group forms to fight districts

Jenny Marder

A newly formed resident’s group kicked off a grass-roots campaign on

Monday to fight a ballot measure that would slice the city into five

districts and cut the City Council from seven members elected at

large to five elected by district.

The five-district plan, known as the Fair District Initiative, was

proposed by former Assemblyman Scott Baugh last year and will be on

the March ballot. The Huntington Beach Concerned Voter’s Coalition

set up the first of many information booths at a crowded City Council

meeting on Monday. The organizers’ goal is to educate the public on

the dangers of creating council districts and to encourage volunteers

to join the battle, said Ed Kerins, president of Huntington Beach

Tomorrow, a residents’ group that has taken a stand against

districts.

Fliers warning about the changes that would come with districts

were also passed out at the meeting.

“What we really need is a public education program to let

[residents] know exactly what districts mean,” said Dean Albright, a

public works commissioner and member of the new coalition.

The group plans to amass volunteers to get its message out by

sending fliers, speaking out at city meetings and walking precincts,

with special attention being paid to areas with a high voter turnout,

Albright said. The campaign’s logo, a red circle with a slash through

the word “districts,” will be sprouting up all over town on fliers

and yard signs.

“We’ll have at least two speakers at every council meeting from

now on, getting our message out,” Albright said.

Critics main objection is that residents will no longer vote for

each council seat.

“The main thing is that they’re losing their voting power,” Kerins

said. “Seven votes for City Council members every four years will be

reduced to one vote every four years, and that one vote may or may

not represent them. The person who represents them may be backed by

the big money people who put districting on the ballot.”

Kerins, who is hoping to garner thousands of volunteers, thinks

that many who of those who favor districts lack an understanding of

what the change will mean for voters.

“My sense is that people hear about districting and they get a

warm, fuzzy feeling that there will be someone that they can talk

to,” he said. “But reality is, this will not be so. One person will

represent 40,000 people in five square miles. The likelihood of you

knowing this person is slim.”