Districting Divide and Conquer: CASTRO STREET

Subject: Senate redistricting splits Castro: Gays accuse Burton of smoothing
political path for Willie Brown


Senate redistricting splits Castro
Gays accuse Burton of smoothing political path for Willie Brown

Robert Salladay, Chronicle Staff Writer Wednesday, October 17, 2001

©2001 San Francisco Chronicle Page A - 1
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San Francisco gay and lesbian activists are livid after discovering too late
that new state Senate districts divide the Castro district -- and they're
calling the boundaries a gift to Mayor Willie Brown at the expense of a
lesbian lawmaker.

"At a fundamental level, it's a symbolic issue, and using Castro Street as a
dividing line is really a slap in the face of the community," said Paul
Hogan, chair of the Alice B. Toklas LGBT Democratic Club.

Several gay-friendly groups, including the Log Cabin Republicans, have
expressed interest in challenging the Senate lines or at least raising a
public stink. The coalition may join a lawsuit already filed by Latinos
upset over the redrawing of a congressional seat in Southern California.

The split was noticed well after the Legislature approved the new political
boundaries, which are reconfigured once a decade based on the new U.S.
Census. Last month, Gov. Gray Davis approved new Senate maps that shift
about 11,000 residents living west of Castro Street into the district now
represented by state Sen. Jackie Speier.

The task of redrawing the Senate maps fell mainly on one of Brown's closest
political allies, Senate President Pro Tem John Burton of San Francisco. Gay
activists suspect the Castro was deliberately divided to give Brown fewer
gay voters and more African American voters in his 2004 campaign to replace
Burton.


MIGDEN'S BURDEN HEAVIER
A possible challenger to Brown for the Senate seat is Assemblywoman Carole
Migden, a lesbian Democrat whose current district includes the entire
Castro. The changes shift a base of her constituency to another Senate
district, making her chances against Brown somewhat more difficult,
activists say.

"As a community, you're going to go with a person who really knows the
issues on the inside out," said Jerry Threet, president of the Harvey Milk
LGBT Democratic Club. "To divide the community down the middle, your issues
are not going to get heard."

Chris Bowman, a San Francisco political consultant, noticed the changes a
few weeks ago and likened them to the work of Burton's brother, former Rep.
Phil Burton of San Francisco. Phil Burton helped California Democrats redraw
the boundaries after the 1980 census and famously called the result "my
contribution to modern art."

"It must run in the genes," Bowman said.

Burton denied drawing the maps to favor Brown over Migden, and Migden says
she's not worried about the loss of potential gay voters in the Castro. But
Migden is nevertheless upset that almost everyone missed the change when the
Legislature approved the new maps last month.

"The maps were public for a very long time, and clearly there should have
been more scrutiny," said Migden, who called the damage "minimal" since it
represents a shift of only about 1.5 percent of voters.

The new Senate maps were changed from a June version that kept the Castro
entirely in Burton's district. The new Eighth Senate District, now
represented by Speier, carves a section out of the Castro from 17th Street
down to 23rd Street. In general, the district stretches from the west side
of San Francisco and down the Peninsula to Woodside, where voters are more
moderate than in the city.

Burton said the Castro shift was made for a variety of reasons, including to
lessen the number of liberal Democratic voters in the district after picking
up an equal number of liberal voters in Ingleside, a mixed neighborhood that
includes African Americans and Chinese Americans. The district stretches
north all the way to Rohnert Park in Sonoma County.

In addition, Burton said, Speier's district needed more liberal voters like
those found in the Castro to ward off a "right wing, business Democrat" from
the Peninsula someday taking over the seat. He insisted the changes were
made to balance out the compromise made to the African American community by
adding Ingleside.

"There were 11,000 people out of 800,000 moved, and that is like 7,000 or 8,
000 voters," Burton said. "It would have no impact on the Senate race for
anyone concerned, including Carole Migden."

'NO GIFT TO ANYONE,' BURTON SAYS

Burton said he easily could have bolstered the district for Brown by
scooping out Brown voters west of Twin Peaks or even stretching the district
into Oakland, where many African American voters live. But he didn't.

"I would swear on my grandson there was no gift to anyone, and there was no
gift to Willie Brown," he said.

Several factors could render some of the debate moot. Burton is supporting a
term limits initiative that could extend his term until 2008. And while
Brown is moving aggressively to run for the Senate seat -- he plans a
kickoff fund-raiser Nov. 17 at the Fairmont Hotel -- Migden is running for
the Board of Equalization next year. She also may run for San Francisco
mayor in 2003. And if that fails, she'll probably try for the state Senate
in 2004.

In general, though, gay community leaders say they are upset that San
Francisco's traditional gay mecca will have to call upon two senators. They
acknowledge that gay and lesbian people live all over the city, not just the
Castro, and that Burton and Speier are nearly indistinguishable when it
comes to gay issues. But they worry about future Senate candidates.

Theresa Sparks, with the Transgender Political Caucus, wrote in a letter to
the Bay Area Reporter newspaper that the gay community can "fight for our
rightful voice, or we can continue to . . . slap one another and one day
find ourselves without the electoral base to sustain the voice we already
have."

E-mail Robert Salladay at bsalladay [at] sfchronicle.com.


©2001 San Francisco Chronicle Page A - 1