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In November 2016, only two districts in Wildomar will be voting. Then in 2018, three districts will be voting. The question is, which districts and where will the lines be drawn?
Last I heard no special meeting has been scheduled yet. Though if you're prudent you may want to pencil in January 27th if you're interested in participating in the process.
There has been some chatter about which type of district based voting that we'll end up with.
Yes, there is more than one type
Here is how I understand it:
The term "by districts" means election of members of the legislative body by voters of the district alone.
The term "from districts" means election of members of the legislative body who are residents of the district from which they are elected by the voters of the entire city.
If "from districts" was opted for, then we could all vote, but the person running has to be in a district. So, still at large but with modification. If we went this way, we will still likely be sued.
If "from districts" was opted for, then we could all vote, but the person running has to be in a district. So, still at large but with modification. If we went this way, we will still likely be sued.
Below is a link to a lot of Sacramento mumbo jumbo on the topic of district elections.
Understand what will be happening in Wildomar going forward
You will have ONE council member representing you instead of five. Oh sure, at first they'll all say, "I'll still be just as eager to help a member from another district as I would one in my own district," but that won't last for long — it can't!
You will have ONE council member representing you instead of five. Oh sure, at first they'll all say, "I'll still be just as eager to help a member from another district as I would one in my own district," but that won't last for long — it can't!
Even if such gregarious attitudes were maintained by the existing electeds, no one keeps their seat forever.
If you end up in District 4, why would you ask the councilmember from District 1,2,3 or 5 for help? Would you approach the mayor of Murrieta or Lake Elsinore for help on an issue in Wildomar?
It's hardly different than if you tried to ask for the assistance of another Assemblymember other than ours (Melissa Melendez), or tried to petition a congressman other than Ken Calvert (our elected man in DC). You'll have one phone number instead of five if you have a concern.
Just know that not only will we have LESS representation, there will be unnecessary competition between the councilmembers too. The way it has been, all the councilmembers have an equal stake in the city, and aren't looking to bring home pork for their districts.
This may sound absurd, but I know that I'm going to be expecting my councilmember to step up to the plate and battle the others over the meager monies available for projects when necessary.
Let's make up a scenario.
Let's say that there is enough money to repair one major road. I'd want my councilmember to fight tooth and nail to have the road (Baxter overpass for example) in my district fixed first, even if the other road (Lemon St as another example) probably deserves to be at the front of the line.
Oh well, water under the bridge. Let the jousting begin. It can only mean more lively city meetings, and as a blogger, who could ask for more?
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I was reading a comment at a Press Enterprise article on this topic, and you knew you couldn't keep Team Crank from posting their logorrheic ramblings.
One in particular is as predictably erroneous as the other things from that poisonous keyboard. Full of the usual deflections, straw man arguments, finger wagging and blame shifting... but this is America, and you can say any bit of hooey you'd like to.
UPDATE
It's hard to know what makes someone tick, but I was just reading another long winded harangue by the Wildomar Timex at a local FaceBook group under the posting of this blog.
I had two favorite parts. First, that she was incapable of discerning the obvious sarcasm in the speech bubble in the cartoon when she posted "No, I'm hardly broken up about this development."
I don't know how I could have made the sarcasm more clear than I did. It was a joke. Next time I'll start with "knock, knock" or something to make it more obvious.
My second favorite part is that she even responded. I guess she just really identifies with the drawing in the political cartoon or something.
Seriously, this is great entertainment for me. The more things she does to this town, the more things I have to write about.
Sure I'm sorry that the fine people of Wildomar are being run roughshod by some sorely out of touch people, but it doesn't affect me. Most people in town have no idea that anything has happened. They don't care and they live their lives uninterrupted by gas bags like the one in question.
It's not that I don't care, but I don't waste brain cells on lost causes. The At Large/Districts issue is a lost cause and it's in the past.
Here's to hopping that she has the energy to challenge Miss Miller for class clown for many years to come.
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I have never met a living soul who did not claim to abhor violence, hate war, despise bigotry, and condemn cruelty. If we are not all liars; then why is our world ravaged by wars, infected with violence, rife with bigotry and pock marked by cruelty? I merely ask the question, I don't really expect an answer.
— EG Marshall
Wildomar Rap tip of the day: careful when looking for that pot and the end of the rainbow... it may not be filled with gold.
It does affect you and all of us, unfortunately. The more money we waste on her bitter antics the less we have to spend on road improvements or other such things. She is also impacting the cost of growing to local schools, churches, or businesses. It is rather sad to see what negative activities a few people chose to spend their time on.
ReplyDeleteYou're right, it does affect me as much as it does others in town. I guess I could have changed it to "it doesn't affect me directly (or personally)."
DeleteThe worst part is, she's just getting revved up, and with this issue going the way she's long pined for, look for her to feel emboldened to continue her battle with the city over everything.