Newly Released PUSD Districting Maps Appear to Favor Incumbents

A district report released just days prior to a Tuesday hearing on drawing new electoral subdistricts for the PUSD Board includes new map alternatives that benefit incumbents on the board, including four that haven't been seen before.

At its Tuesday meeting, the Pasadena Unified School District board will hold its final hearing on a plan that would switch the district from at-large elections to seven geographic subdistricts that would each elect one school board member.  The plan will go on the June ballot as Measure A for Pasadena, Altadena and Sierra Madre voters to consider.

Tuesday's hearing will focus on seven potential maps for how to draw the new districts, all of which are variations on a map suggested by a task force appointed by the board that held months of public hearings to come up with its recommended map.  The board is scheduled to vote on which map to support at the hearing.

The board's staff report for Tuesday's meeting includes the exact original map suggested by the PUSD Districting Task Force, as well as six alternative suggested maps that were drawn up by the district's districting consultant.  All are variations on the original Task Force map, but some have very substantial differences.

Of the six alternatives, five would benefit at least one incumbent board member by altering the original task force map's borders to put incumbents in districts where no other incumbents reside.  All of the alternatives can be viewed above in the attached PDF document.

Ken Chawkins, who chaired the task force that came up with the original map, described the new alternatives as "incumbent protection maps," something which Task Force members hoped to avoid.  He pointed out that some of the maps have not been seen at previous meetings.

"A lot of people are going to show up at the meeting and say, 'This is crazy,'" Chawkins said.

How the New Maps Favor Incumbents

Under the districting measure, board members would be required to live in the district where they run for office, compared with the current at-large system, under which board members can run for any of the seats as long as they live anywhere in Pasadena, Altadena or Sierra Madre.

Because of the new residency requirements, any districting process could put two or more board members in the same district, based on their current residence.  

The task force recommended map has three districts in which two board members currently reside. If this map were passed, it would force two members to run against each other or move to a new district if they both wanted to be reelected.

Five of the six other alternatives listed in the staff report would each be better for at least one incumbent. One alternative even puts each of the board's incumbent members in his or her own district so none would be forced to run against another to keep his or her seat.

Task force members recommended against considering the benefits of incumbents as part of the redistricting process:  Chawkins, the chair of the task force, in fact, said at a March meeting that the not to draw the maps in a way that would benefit incumbent board members.

Where Did the Maps Come From?

Doug Johnson, the consultant working on the district's plan, said his company drew up the maps after board members expressed concerns about incumbents being placed in the same district.  Board members did not direct him to create the new maps, he said.

Johnson had noted at previous task force meetings that incumbents from government bodies he has worked with in the past have often asked for maps that would not put two incumbents in the same district.

Two of the six alternatives were displayed at a previous Board meeting, Johnson said, including one that rearranges the West Altadena district to move one of the two incumbents who live there into a new district.

The other four alternatives, all of which benefit incumbents, have not been shown to the public prior to the release of the staff report this week, Johnson said.

Tuesday's Meeting

The meeting begins at 5:30 p.m on Tuesday May 8 at PUSD headquarters at 351. S. Hudson in Pasadena.  It can be viewed online here.

The board is scheduled to hold a final hearing to get public input on the maps and then hold a vote on which map alternative to endorse and to authorize putting the districting plan on the June ballot.

If approved by the board, redistricting will ultimately be voted on by residents in the June election, though the actual maps worked out by the task force will not appear on the ballot for voters to examine.  

For more on the task force's process, check out the below links:

Patch will update this article with more information about the maps and Tuesday's hearing if it becomes available.