Hearing Aims to Open Up Redistricting Process : Census: Fourteen public meetings are planned statewide. The Feb. 22 session in Ventura is one of the first.

In an early step toward changing the political map in Ventura County, a state Senate committee plans a hearing in Ventura next week to gather public views on how to redraw congressional and state legislative districts.

The Senate Committee on Reapportionment and Redistricting hopes to get comments about the county’s growing Latino community and the accuracy of new census figures at a public hearing to be held at the County Government Center Feb. 22.

The hearing, one of the first of 14 public meetings planned statewide, begins the effort in the state Legislature to fashion new state Senate, Assembly and congressional districts. Under the state Constitution, the Legislature has until the end of the year to redraw these district boundaries to reflect shifts in population documented by the 1990 census.

After a lengthy public process and inevitable political negotiating, the configuration of those districts may change the fortunes of many incumbent lawmakers.

For the most part, area lawmakers represent districts heavily weighted to their political advantage with a disproportionate number of voters from their political party. These districts make it difficult for challengers to unseat incumbents.

For example, the 21st Congressional District in eastern Ventura County has 53,000 more registered Republican voters than Democrats and its Republican congressman, Elton Gallegly of Simi Valley, has had runaway victories in the last three elections.

“We’ve just experienced the efforts of 10 years of a gerrymandered state,” said Ruth Holton of Common Cause, a citizen lobbying group in Sacramento. “Everyone must work to ensure this doesn’t happen again.”

The state Senate committee has received widespread praise for holding the series of hearings and attempting to open the redistricting process to the public. But groups such as the League of Women Voters of California are withholding judgment until they can see if the final map reflects the interests of communities more than officeholders.

“Otherwise, the hearings are only for show and legislative leaders will have once again designed districts that reflect incumbent and partisan priorities,” said Trudy Schafer, the League’s legislation director in Sacramento.

In preparation for the hearing in Ventura, the Senate committee has sent letters to county supervisors, mayors of various cities and community leaders in Ventura, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties.

Specifically, the letters have requested information about the changing demographics in the three counties and the voting rights concerns of Latinos or other racial and ethnic minority groups.

The committee is also asking cities to detail any potential undercount in the 1990 census, and is seeking guidance on which communities have a sufficient number of common interests that they should not be severed into separate congressional and legislative districts.

In the letter, state Sen. Milton Marks (D-San Francisco), chairman of the committee, said he is committed to a fair process. “I believe that it is possible, even in the politically charged world of redistricting and reapportionment, to work together in a positive manner.”

So far, only two people have signed up to testify at the hearing scheduled for 9:30 a.m. on Feb. 22 in the County Board of Supervisors auditorium.

One of the two pre-scheduled speakers is Anita Perez Ferguson, a Santa Barbara education consultant and former Democratic congressional candidate. She said she plans to talk about growing numbers of Latinos and other minority groups and their lack of representation.

Ferguson also indicated that she is considering running for Congress in 1992 in the district now represented by Rep. Robert J. Lagomarsino (R-Ventura). State Sen. Gary K. Hart (D-Santa Barbara) is another likely candidate to run for Congress. He has plans to be out of town during the hearing, but will submit written testimony, said his aide, Beverly O’Gorman.

Latino groups statewide have vowed to make sure that Latino communities and their voting strength are not fractured by new political boundaries.

In Ventura County, the ad-hoc group Latinos for Fair Representation is planning a special meeting to formulate its strategy for the upcoming hearing, said Marco Antonio Abarca, a member and an attorney with California Rural Legal Assistance.