Asian American Assembly District first in state After months of analysis and
Asian American Assembly District first in state
After months of analysis and debate in the eye of the redistricting storm, the Asian Pacific American Legal Center (APALC) is expressing satisfaction – at least with how things turned out in the West San Gabriel Valley.
APALC was cautiously optimistic about the California Citizens Redistricting Commission’s final maps in a Tuesday briefing, pointing in particular to the fact that Asian Americans make up 50.09 percent of eligible voters in Assembly District 49.
The new West San Gabriel Valley district – which keeps Alhambra, Arcadia, Monterey Park, Rosemead, San Gabriel, San Marino and Temple City together – marks the first time Asian Americans make up a majority in a state or federal district.
“APALC believes the creation of this district was warranted under the federal Voting Rights Act,” Eugene Lee, APALC’s voting rights project director said in a statement.
While they would have preferred the west and east ends of the Valley to be connected in senate and congressional districts, the advocacy group was happy that most west valley cities were kept together in those new categories.
Holden revs up campaign to make Assembly run
Pasadena City Council veteran Chris Holden will kick off his campaign for state Assembly this weekend with a rally in Pasadena.
Holden announced his bid earlier in the month, before the state’s Citizens Redistricting Commission finalized plans for the 41st Assembly District. If he wins and those plans stick, he’ll be representing an area that hops from Pasadena, Altadena and South Pasadena, skipping a few foothill communities, to cities in San Bernardino County.
The Pasadena native and son of former Los Angeles City Councilman Nate Holden first joined the City Council 15 years ago and has remained there since, including a stint as mayor in the 1990s. He was Pasadena’s only black mayor.
Known by insiders as a formidable behind-the-scenes dealmaker, Holden has support from state Attorney General Kamala Harris, L.A. County Sheriff Lee Baca, Pasadena Mayor Bill Bogaard, his fellow council members and a host of other locals.
Caltrans homes repair audit in the works
The long-simmering issue of how Caltrans maintains 500 or so state-owned residential properties along the 710 Freeway corridor will get some attention from the State Auditor’s office Wednesday.
Assemblyman Anthony Portantino, D-Pasadena, asked the Joint Legislative Audit Committee to investigate and conduct a hearing after reports of inflated repair charges (e.g., $100,000 for a broken roof) revived the issue earlier this summer.
The committee will consider that request – the latest in a long line of legislative investigations and overtures aimed at wresting the properties from state ownership – this morning at 9 a.m.
According to Portantino spokeswoman Wendy Gordon, if approved, the audit would focus on identifying identifying the state-owned properties maintained by Caltrans and review policy for maintaining them.
Repair expenditures for the most recent three-year period would be compared to private sector costs, and the audit would also look at property tax revenue that would have been collected over the past five years if the properties were privately owned.
The session will be streamed live at www.asm.ca.gov.
From staff reports