Retired Judges to Play Role in Supervisorial Redistricting

The Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to create a panel of retired judges to oversee a six-month effort to redraw the supervisors’ district boundaries.

Outgoing Supervisor Don Saltarelli suggested the creation of the panel, saying the current boundaries are confusing and place communities with widely different interests in the same district.

Last month, Saltarelli asked the board to approve a new boundary map that he created, but some residents and supervisors said the plan needed greater public review.

Saltarelli’s new plan calls for extensive public hearings. The board is scheduled to select members of the panel in January, and the panel will make recommendations to the board in May. If approved by the board, the new districts would take effect in June.

Helen Ward, a Foothill Ranch community activist, said she supports Saltarelli’s plan because it calls for public hearings and will allow supervisor-elect Todd Spitzer, who takes office in January, to vote on the matter.

Saltarelli on Tuesday described the current boundaries as “unreasonable and unsupportable.” His 3rd District, for example, stretches from La Habra and Fullerton in North County to Mission Viejo and Lake Forest in South County.

Saltarelli’s map would move Fullerton, La Habra and Brea from District 3 to District 4. The new District 3 would take in most of Tustin, Irvine, Orange, Yorba Linda, Villa Park and the Orange foothills. Mission Viejo and Lake Forest would move from District 3 to District 5.