28th District’s Missing Person: Its Own State Senator : Politics: A quirk of redistricting means the orphaned area will probably be represented until 1994 by one of the region’s four senators: Beverly, Watson, Dills or Hughes.

Got a problem you want to talk over with your state senator? You may well have trouble figuring out who that is over the next two years.

Always difficult to comprehend, the quirks of reapportionment--the once-a-decade redrawing of legislative district boundaries--have hit the state and the South Bay with a vengeance this year. As a result, 327,464 coastal South Bay residents in the new 28th State Senate District will not have an elected state senator until 1994.

“The problem is very common,” said Tim Hodson, staff director of the Senate Reelections and Reapportionment Committee. “But the dimensions this time around are absolutely unprecedented.”

Although several hundred thousand Californians in previous reapportionment years have ended up without elected representatives in the Senate for a time, this year’s court-drawn plan left 3.96 million residents in the lurch.

In some parts of the state, the legislative void is huge.

Six entire counties in Northern California will have no state senator until 1994, Hodson said, as well as most of Fresno County and the city of Fresno. Huge chunks of California in 17 other areas, including the South Bay, have also fallen into the void.

Adding to the confusion, nearly 8 million Californians in dozens of pockets statewide will be represented by two state senators until 1994, including residents of Inglewood, Hawthorne, Gardena and Lawndale.

Although these political contortions have caused confusion, state officials say they do not infringe on the rights of voters.

“Federal courts and state courts have litigated this time and time again and they have always said it is not a violation of anybody’s voting rights,” Hodson said. “It’s simply an inevitable byproduct of our constitutional system.”

Underlying the problem is that California’s four-year Senate terms are organized on a staggered schedule: Half the seats come up for election every two years. By contrast, all Assembly and congressional seats come up for election every two years.

This year, state Senate elections were held only in the new odd-numbered districts.

Although much of the South Bay was covered by the old 29th District, that district was carved up during reapportionment, forcing longtime Sen. Robert G. Beverly (R-Redondo Beach) to go hunting for new turf to serve.

He moved to Long Beach and won election to the new 27th District, which encompasses the Palos Verdes Peninsula and parts of Long Beach.

Senators elected two years ago will continue to serve their old districts until 1994, when the new even-numbered state Senate districts come up for election. That ensures elected Senate representation for the inland South Bay, including all of Carson, as well as northern South Bay communities including El Segundo and Westchester.

But because Beverly’s term expired, the center portion of the new 28th Senate District--an area including part of El Segundo and all of Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach, Redondo Beach, Torrance and Lomita--will have no elected state senator.

The Senate Rules Committee is expected to convene next month to start assigning senators to represent disenfranchised areas. Observers say the South Bay will probably will be handed to one of four sitting senators--Beverly, Diane Watson (D-Los Angeles), Ralph C. Dills (D-Gardena) or Teresa P. Hughes (D-Inglewood).

But each recognizes problems with taking on the orphaned district.

“There’s a practical problem with handling it all,” said Beverly, who sits on the Rules Committee and will help make the decision. “We’ve been forced to cut staff in recent years as it is, so I don’t see how we can take on an even larger area than we’ll already have to deal with.”

He speculated that some senators--he would not say who--might lobby for assignment to the 28th District as a precursor to running for the seat in 1994.

Regardless of who is appointed to serve the district, Beverly believes he will continue to receive telephone calls and requests from his former constituents.

“Of course I’m not going to reject requests for assistance just because I’m not in that district anymore,” he said.

Watson was not aware of the new 28th District’s dilemma but said she would be willing to fill the void.

“I would be honored to do it,” she said. “I like the South Bay and (my current district has) gone out on the water’s edge to Playa del Rey. I could easily pick up El Segundo and Manhattan Beach and those areas.”

Local officials said they would be more comfortable dealing with Beverly, as they have for so many years.

“If it were someone like Bob Beverly, I would feel like we’re getting a fair shake because he’s represented us for many years and is very knowledgeable of our needs and wants,” Torrance Councilman Bill Applegate said. “I have had no dealings with Diane Watson . . . and I know she just wouldn’t have the background or knowledge of what’s going on.

“I just hope whatever happens they won’t leave us hanging out there if we need help,” he said.

Some city officials said Beverly should be compelled to serve.

“I definitely would push for Bob,” Hermosa Beach City Councilman Sam Y. Edgerton said. “He’s familiar with the area and knows our needs. . . . Heck, I say sign him up whether he likes it or not.”

Lost in the Shuffle An election for the newly drawn 28th Senate District, which encompasses most of the coastal South Bay, will not be held until 1994. That leaves much of the district without an elected state senator for two years. The unrepresented areas are shown as the unshaded portion of the map.