To Pamela Cruz. Peninsula 360 Press [P360P]
Immigrants living in San Mateo County could lose decision-making power and the right to have their needs taken into account after the final vote on the new redistricting plan.
This decision, which has been in effect for ten years and is due to be taken this December, will also affect communities of colour.
That's according to Rudy Espinoza-Murray, head of the San Mateo County Redistricting Advisory Committee, who noted that "when there's a line that divides a community, that community loses power."
During the Peninsula 360 Radio program, broadcast by the KIQI radio station, through the 1010 AM frequency from San Francisco, California, in collaboration with the program Hecho en California led by Marcos Gutiérrez and Manuel Ortiz, the official explained that the issue of redistribution or drawing of the maps is "a matter of power," where "the elected or the person in power" will always want to have maps in their favor, which ensure that they will continue to win.
This, he said, "they do through a process of selecting their own voters, rather than voters selecting their candidates."
Maps are very important
Rudy Espinoza said that "there are communities of color that may tend to vote in a certain way or for certain types of candidates, so people in power divide and dilute them, in this redistribution process that affects the state level, in the assembly, in the State Senate, in the US Congress: the maps are very important."
In the case of Redwood City, he said that the map presented by the Assembly draws a line that divides the city in two: "It is a large area that contains thousands of Latinos who will be in the 24th Assembly District, while all of us who are residents of Redwood City are in District 22 represented by Assembly Member Kevin Mullin."
"If we lose thousands of Latino votes in District 22, the current one, as a group, we will lose power. That is the problem we are facing and it is important that we are all aware of how this process that occurs every 10 years affects and impacts us," he stressed.
Communities of color in the county have diverse needs that must be heard and addressed. There has been a noticeable decrease in the Latino population due to the high cost of living in San Mateo, in addition to the housing shortage.
In light of this, he stressed that "we have to look for ways to elect people who care about housing production in the county so that we can all live there and have the option of having affordable housing that can be paid for with the salaries we have, since salaries are not increasing at the same level as the cost of housing."
In light of this and other issues, he stressed the need for the community to stay informed about what is happening with this redistricting, and to get involved through public comments or letters to try to influence the design, regardless of whether or not they speak English.
She noted that in San Mateo County, it is mostly white men who decide how the district maps are drawn. And even though the community has said “outright” that it wants a change in the maps, it is likely that they will remain the same or affect “communities of interest,” such as those historically formed by immigrants, who share similar histories or who have a language that connects them.
Listen to the full program here:
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