Hart, Davis Boundaries Change but Not for Long : Redistricting: A state Senate plan shifts Moorpark and Camarillo. But the change is called a mistake.

The state Senate proposed new political boundaries Wednesday morning that shift tens of thousands of Ventura County residents from one Senate district to another--only to promise late in the day that some of the residents will be put back.

As it is drafted, the Senate’s redistricting plan moves 31,844 residents in Ventura, Camarillo and Solvang from state Sen. Ed Davis’ district to the district represented by Sen. Gary K. Hart (D-Santa Barbara).

The boundaries would also remove most of Moorpark’s 24,912 residents from Hart’s 18th Senate District and place them in the 19th Senate District represented by Davis, a Santa Clarita Republican.

“Apparently, both Davis and Hart have said that is not what they wanted. So we are probably going to correct it,” said Timothy A. Hodson, a consultant for the Senate Committee on Elections and Reapportionment. “It is like Yugoslavia. The boundaries are in flux.”

The trading of communities is not unusual for politically charged redistricting that occurs every 10 years to reflect changes in population documented by the U.S. Census Bureau.

But it was peculiar that the political swap occurred after the plan was unveiled at a news conference Wednesday morning.

“What appears on the map is apparently wrong and is being corrected,” said Hunt Braly, Davis’ chief of staff. “Moorpark is staying with Hart, and Camarillo is staying with us.”

Joe Caves, Hart’s top legislative assistant, said redistricting often requires some fine-tuning. “It used to be that we did it behind closed doors, so our errors weren’t so apparent,” he said.

Even with the promised changes, Hart’s district is supposed to pick up about half of Ventura, which has been split between the two Senate districts for the past decade.

“It looks like I’d be representing virtually all of the city of Ventura,” Hart said. He said it should make things easier for Ventura residents who are often confused about who represents their portion of the city.

The reconfigured districts will be part of the Senate’s redistricting bill that must be passed by the Legislature and signed by Gov. Pete Wilson before becoming law.

Plans for the Assembly and Congress will be drafted separately and are expected to be released next week.

For the most part, the Senate’s redistricting proposal leaves Ventura County’s two Senate districts largely intact.

Davis, who says he will run for reelection next year, keeps a safely Republican district with 52% of voters registered with the GOP. His district would retain Simi Valley, Thousand Oaks and portions of the San Fernando Valley. It loses Solvang and other sections of Santa Barbara County to Hart and another state senator and grows to encompass all of the Santa Clarita Valley.

Hart does not face reelection until 1994 and is seriously considering a bid for Congress in 1992. His 18th Senate District remains fairly competitive politically, with party registration among district voters remaining 46% Democrat and 40% Republican.

As proposed Wednesday, Hart’s district would continue to stretch along the coast from northern Santa Barbara County through Ventura, Oxnard and on to Malibu. One finger of the district runs inland, picking up Ojai, Santa Paula, Fillmore and portions of the San Fernando Valley.

At the news conference, Senate leaders said they drew the political lines to pack as many Latino communities into Hart’s district as possible. By linking the communities of Guadalupe, Santa Barbara, Ventura, Oxnard, Santa Paula and Fillmore, Latinos make up nearly 32% of the proposed district’s 740,811 population.

A Latino leader said the state Senate districts in Ventura County have not fragmented Latino communities and Latino voting strength as much as those drawn for the Assembly and Congress.

Andres Herrera, co-chairman of the Ventura County-Santa Barbara County Latino Coalition on Reapportionment and Redistricting, declined to comment on the Senate’s proposal since he had not seen it.

“We have proposed our own maps,” Herrera said of a statewide Latino coalition. “And we want to know if they plan to implement our maps, and if not, why not?”