Dear Neighbor, Colleague, and Partner in Business

Coachella Valley is about to be split – That’s a statement we hope captures your attention. In a matter of days, there is a political process that will have a major impact on the Coachella Valley. It’s called Redistricting and GCVCC is here to quickly summarize what it is, how it affects all of us in the coming days, and what all of us can do to protect the interests of Coachella Valley as a whole.

SUMMARY

“Redistricting” is something that occurs after each US Census.  Because redistricting is infrequent, many of us are unaware of what redistricting is and how it impacts community development.  Just this past week “Redistricting” became of major consequence to the Coachella Valley. Census data is out, and redistricting is in play.  An independent set of commissioners have reviewed census data and have proposed changes to where governmental district lines are drawn.  It’s been suggested that the Coachella Valley be split between two legislators in the State Senate and State Assembly. This is a change of major consequence.

WHAT’S BEEN PROPOSED

This map outlines the proposed redistricting changes: https://www.wedrawthelinesca.org/draft_maps.  This proposal gives part of Eastern Coachella Valley to a new Senate Seat. That means the Coachella Valley would no longer be represented by one Senator, but by two.  While there are pros to having more voices in Sacramento, the cons of splitting off parts of Eastern Coachella Valley to a separate Senate office can be negative too.  Our bi-partisan platform always seeks to consider the opportunities with any legislative change.  Based on how lines have been drawn, we see more potential negative outcomes with the redistricting proposal, than positive.

GCVCC is here to be a resource and educator as well as a a catalyst for action.  Time is very limited and any comments on this initial draft set of maps must be done by Wednesday, 11/24/21.  After comments on this first set of draft maps are taken into consideration, a new set of maps will be issued in December, likely to be the final maps for our legislative districts. The time to engage is NOW!

HOW YOU CAN ENGAGE AND LEARN MORE

• Submit a public comment to the redistricting commission here wedrawthelinesca.org/contact citing these points to our redistricting commissioners
• Do not split cities- Indio is the largest city in the Coachella Valley and breaking it apart to link to far-flung coastal population centers dilutes its voice in Sacramento.
  • Keep the Coachella Valley whole in one district- we are a community of interest as a Valley- our community is linked by our regional economy.
  • In instances where we are not large enough for our own district, keep us with communities that share interests- including I-10 Corridor (Banning/Beaumont), the Mornogo Valley, or other parts of adjacent Riverside County where we share much in common, including common transportation corridors, commuting patterns (people do not drive from Chula Vista to Indio to work, but they do drive from Indio to Palm Springs or Morongo Valley to the Coachella Valley)
  • If you do have to split the Coachella Valley, center economic interests together. Indio is the City of Festivals and should be considered part of the greater tourism and hospitality economy that our community is known for- and not necessarily part of the agricultural area like Imperial County.
• Sign on to a letter GCVCC will be circulating and submitting to local electeds and the redistricting commission here.

On behalf of GCVCC, our Legislative Committee, and Policy Team it’s our pleasure to be your connecting point to education, resources, and action that affect our community.

Emily Falappino, President/CEO

Chris Collier, Chief Policy Advisor