Fair Oaks Final Assembly District Proposal to be Announced Friday

This Friday, the final draft of district maps for California will be released by the Citizens Redistricting Commission (CRC) for preliminary approval.

Presently, Fair Oaks falls within Sacramento County, represented in the Assembly by Dr. Richard Pan in District 5. The change in lines would not only shift Fair Oaks from District 5 to District 4 but divide up most of Sacramento into District 6.

After various draft proposals, and after following some public outcry, the CRC has drawn up its final changes to be proposed by the state. The final draft will be presented tomorrow and voted on for approval Aug.15.

Fair Oaks would remain in Senate District 1 under Ted Gaines but much of District 1 itself is reshaped to include rural communities to the North. Board of Equalization lines differ little. The congressional lines are also shifted with Fair Oaks leaving District 3 for District 7.

For Fair Oaks residents, the proposed changes would alter much of its association with communities of interest.

Executive Director of the Fair Oaks Chamber of Commerce, Jan Bass Otto, said he wasn’t happy with the current proposed district lines.

The Fair Oaks Chamber of Commerce issued a letter stating their opposition to the proposed districts.

The letter states that “Fair Oaks has much more in common with its neighboring communities of Carmichael, Citrus Heights and Rancho Cordova. We are not in a 'community of interest' with Roseville, Rocklin, Loomis and Lincoln.”

It also says that “Fair Oaks is represented by the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors and served by the San Juan Unified School District and SMUD. We are served by no Placer County agencies.”

“We want to stay in Sacramento County and not move into Placer County,” Bass Otto said. “The chamber already sent letters twice to the committee. There's not much we can do now besides hold our breath.”

In November of 2008, voters passed the Voters FIRST act, which appeared as Proposition 11 in the general election. Voters FIRST act authorized the creation of the CRC. Before, it was done by legislature.

The main factor that CRC takes into account when working to redraw maps is population. Judged by the information assembled during the census of 2010, the Congressional, Senate, Assembly and Board of Equalization districts are redrawn to incorporate an evenly distributed amount of population, while keeping the same amount of districts.

Congress has 53 districts in California, 40 Senate districts, 80 Assembly Districts and 4 State Board of Equalization districts.