Supervisors to Address Boundaries Proposal

The Board of Supervisors today will discuss a proposal by Supervisor Don Saltarelli to redraw supervisorial boundaries.

Saltarelli has been developing the redistricting plan for months, saying the current boundaries should be redrawn to place neighboring cities with similar interests in the same districts.

“This is the right time to do this,” said Saltarelli, adding that three sitting supervisors will leave the board when their terms end and won’t seek reelection. “It removes the politics . . . and self-interest from the process.”

Saltarelli has long criticized the boundaries of his 3rd District, which stretches from La Habra and Brea in the North County through Orange and Tustin and into the South County cities of Lake Forest and Mission Viejo.

Saltarelli’s plan would place the northern portion of his district in District 4, which would take in Fullerton, La Habra, Brea and central Anaheim. District 3 would take in most of Tustin, Irvine, Yorba Linda and Orange, while Mission Viejo and Lake Forest would go to District 5.

However, Supervisor Jim Silva and supervisor-elect Todd Spitzer oppose the plan. “Early redistricting without verified or accurate numbers doesn’t make sense,” Silva said. “There has to be public input on this.”

Silva also said that to redistrict now would be a waste of money, for the law requires that boundaries be redrawn after the 2000 census.

The board meets at 9:30 a.m. at 10 Civic Center Plaza in Santa Ana.