Wilson Panel Completes Remap Plan : Redistricting: But governor, who has chided Legislature for its secrecy, won’t disclose his committee’s proposals.

Gov. Pete Wilson, who has criticized the Legislature for drawing proposed new political districts behind closed doors, disclosed Tuesday that an “independent panel” he appointed has completed its plan but he intends to keep it secret.

Wilson said he received the six-member bipartisan panel’s proposal for new Assembly, Senate, congressional and Board of Equalization districts on Friday and used it to help him evaluate the Legislature’s proposed districts, which he vetoed Monday.

But Wilson said he does not intend to make the plan public while he is negotiating with the Legislature. He said the document will be released only if it is submitted to the state Supreme Court, which could take over the redistricting task if the impasse between the governor and the Legislature continues.

Wilson’s decision was met with a round of criticism from Democratic partisans and nonpartisan groups that have been monitoring the redistricting process.

Democratic Assembly Speaker Willie Brown of San Francisco called Wilson’s decision to keep the plan concealed an “insult to due process, which the governor apparently believes is a concept that applies only to the Legislature, not to the executive branch of state government.”

The Speaker said the Assembly-Senate conference committee that has been handling the redistricting issue would be willing to consider the panel’s proposal if Wilson would submit it to the Legislature. Lawmakers left town Monday after failing to override the governor’s vetoes.

“If in fact it is a good plan, it is one the conference committee should consider and possibly adopt,” Brown said. “Obviously we cannot do that without due process, which includes public hearings. With the governor’s cooperation, I am willing to let that process get under way and take the steps necessary to reconvene my house.”

Senate Leader David A. Roberti (D-Los Angeles) joined with Brown in a letter to Wilson asking him to submit the plan promptly for a legislative hearing.

Margaret Herman of the League of Women Voters, noting that Wilson in his veto messages had criticized the Legislature for not allowing sufficient public review of its proposals, said “it sounds as if the same thing is happening with his plan.

“He ought to make the plan public,” Herman said. “The plan was developed with public money and the public ought to have the benefit of it. I’m disappointed.”

Lisa Foster, executive director of California Common Cause, called Wilson’s decision “outrageous.”

“I don’t understand why he is keeping it private unless he’s not happy with it and intends to tinker with it before it goes to court,” Foster said.

Dan Schnur, an aide to Wilson, said the plan is exempt from disclosure under the state Public Records Act because it is an “advisory recommendation” to the governor, similar to advice Wilson gets from agency secretaries and department directors, which is kept private.

Schnur said the panel’s plan is different from the Legislature’s proposals because it is not in a form that could become law. He said the governor has not shown the document to legislators but is gleaning from it ideas that he is sharing with lawmakers. Wilson met Tuesday with Republican leaders to discuss the party’s next move.

“Right now it is, in essence, an advisory memorandum for the governor,” Schnur said of the panel’s plan.