Lines on Maps Get Attention of Lawmakers : Redistricting: As voters are shifted from one district to another, Democratic and Republican politicians hope to retain their seats.

The shotgun political marriage of the Pasadena area with San Joaquin Valley communities is likely to have been annulled when state lawmakers complete the once-a-decade process of redrawing legislative district boundaries.

In one of the stranger twists of the 1980s redistricting, heavily Democratic and predominately black areas in the San Gabriel Valley were thrown into the agriculture-oriented district of state Sen. Walter Stiern, a Democrat from Bakersfield, to enhance the Democrats’ grip on the seat. The plan ultimately backfired when Stiern retired and the 16th District Senate seat was captured in 1986 by Republican Don Rogers, also a Bakersfield resident.

Rogers says he now expects that the 90,000 people who live in western Altadena and northwest Pasadena, where Democratic voter registration reaches 72%, will be cut out of his otherwise heavily Republican district.

Rogers says it makes sense to break up his district, which stretches about 200 miles from the cattle fields around Hanford to neighborhoods near the Rose Bowl, because “there’s not much in common between Pasadena and the San Joaquin Valley.”

He added that he anticipates his Pasadena area precincts will be shifted into a San Gabriel Valley area district that needs to add constituents. A probable candidate is the 24th Senate District of Sen. Art Torres (D-Los Angeles), which includes South Pasadena, Eagle Rock, East Los Angeles and downtown Los Angeles.

The fate of the Pasadena area now represented by Rogers highlights some of the factors at work as lawmakers face a Sept. 13 deadline to send a redistricting plan to Gov. Pete Wilson.

Along with community compatibility, these factors include skyrocketing population in Riverside and San Bernardino Counties. That should pull many San Gabriel Valley legislative districts eastward, since political boundaries follow the population.

Also, map makers must take into account demands by Latinos and Asians for increased representation. That could force veteran lawmakers, such as Assemblywoman Sally Tanner (D-Baldwin Park), to run on unfamiliar turf or face stiff challenges.

As Assembly and Senate staff members work on new political maps behind closed doors, one of the few certainties is that based on 1990 Census figures, each of the 80 Assembly districts must have 372,000 people, or 26% more than in the 1980s, each of the 40 Senate districts will need 744,000 residents, or 25% more, and congressional districts will need 572,000, or 9% more.

Congressional districts do not have to grow as much because the state’s 45-member delegation is expected to be increased by seven seats, reflecting California’s growth, especially in the Inland Empire.

The state legislative districts on the western fringes of the San Gabriel Valley, such as Torres’, generally have to add population because they have failed to keep pace with the state’s overall growth. Torres’ district needs to add about 63,000 people to reach the 774,000 figure.

In contrast, districts in the Pomona area, such as that represented by Sen. Ruben Ayala (D-Chino), have to shed population because of their booming growth in the past decade. Ayala’s district is about 163,000 over the 774,000 figure.

In establishing new districts, map makers must abide by federal laws that prevent the dilution of minority-group voting strength. The map makers also must attempt to keep communities of interest--such as cities or foothill communities--in a single district, instead of divided among lawmakers.

That latter factor could create pressure to insure that more of Pasadena’s roughly 131,500 residents are lumped in a single state Senate district. In the 1980s plan, the city was split between Rogers and Sen. Newton Russell (R-Glendale).

Until draft proposals are released in the next two weeks by Assembly and Senate election committees, it will be unclear how the political line-up in the San Gabriel Valley will change. The area is roughly divided among Democratic and Republican lawmakers, with Democrats holding a three-member to two-member edge in Congress, but the GOP holding a 8-7 advantage among the state legislative seats.

While the situation remains extremely fluid, the increasing Latino population and the requirements of federal law are expected to prompt map makers to create a new Latino Assembly district in the San Gabriel Valley, partially out of Tanner’s district. The boundaries for her seat, in turn, would be pushed eastward to Pomona.

Currently, Tanner represents El Monte, Baldwin Park, La Puente, most of Rosemead and Industry and part of West Covina. Some lawmakers have speculated that Tanner would give up El Monte and La Puente in the new configuration.

As currently drawn, the population of Tanner’s district is 64% Latino. But so far, no Latino candidate has been able to successfully challenge her.

Tanner says she has heard the speculation that her district might be shifted toward Pomona and that if that occurs, she would do her best to represent that area.

“I know there have to be some changes,” Tanner acknowledged.

But the veteran lawmaker added that if her district is reshuffled in such a way that greatly increases its number of Anglo Republican voters, she “wouldn’t be happy about that.”

Tanner is not alone in feeling the pressure from minorities seeking to maximize their voting strength. In fact, minority groups are getting strong support for their efforts from an unlikely supporter--Republicans--who see new minority districts cutting into the strength of liberal Democrats, especially on the Westside of Los Angeles.

Besides Latinos, Asians are lobbying to create a seat, probably an Assembly district, which would give the growing Asian population around Monterey Park a significant influence on the outcome of an election.

“We . . . want to make sure that our numbers are not divided, no matter what the seat,” says Monterey Park City Councilwoman Judy Chu.

Torres suggests that the growing Chinese and Vietnamese populations around Alhambra and San Marino might give an Asian Republican a solid base to launch a successful congressional campaign. Torres says that such a seat could be created out of the Glendale-based congressional seat now held by Republican Carlos Moorhead.

Republican lawmakers, not surprisingly, dismiss Torres’ speculation.

While the area congressmen all seem poised to run for reelection next year, any retirements would set off a scramble for their seats among state lawmakers, who are subject to term limits imposed by the voter-approved Proposition 140.

Several of the congressmen voiced frustration about being in the dark about the shape of their new districts because the lines are being drawn in Sacramento, not Washington, D.C.

“I have more questions than answers,” says Rep. David Dreier (R-Claremont).

Dreier’s district must shed 97,555 people because of population growth. The district is anchored in growing Pomona, which could turn into another redistricting hot spot. Between 1980 and 1990, the city grew 42%, compared to the statewide average of 26%, according to the census.

Dreier describes the booming area as the center of his strongly Republican district. Even though the city is regarded as leaning Democratic, Dreier says he has appealed to map makers to keep the city in his district.

Others, too, are focused on Pomona, once a backwater that was the last leg of the Santa Fe Railroad on its way from Chicago.

Because San Bernardino County is growing even faster than Pomona, freshman Assemblyman Jim Brulte (R-Ontario) says he expects that his district will no longer cross the county line into Pomona. Brulte’s district, formerly represented by onetime Pomona Mayor Charles Bader, is 127,000 people above the 372,000 required in new Assembly districts.

Ayala, whose district includes Pomona and who won a bitter reelection contest last year against Republican Bader, pulls no punches in discussing the people he wants to jettison.

“I’m going to try to get rid of as many anti-Ayala votes as possible,” he said.