College Trustee Berated for Boundary Plan

Archrivals of a community college board member said Friday that they intend to oppose his attempt to “gerrymander” his district’s boundaries so that he would keep his seat even though he is moving from the area.

Charles W. “Pete” Maddox, 48, one of seven members of the Rancho Santiago Community College District Board of Trustees, has come under attack for wanting to incorporate Trustee Area 2--of which he’s the only member--into Trustee Area 3. That area covers most of Orange, where he and his family plan to move toward the end of the year.

Of the three areas in the district, Area 1 takes up most of Santa Ana, while Area 3 extends from the Riverside County line to Euclid Street in Garden Grove and encompasses all of Orange, Anaheim Hills and Villa Park, among other communities.

Those two areas each have three trustees, while Area 2--a 14-square-mile area that covers part of Santa Ana and a sliver of Orange--has a single board member: Maddox.

Maddox said the district was originally drawn in 1970 to “prevent Orange and Santa Ana from having four seats,” with Area 2 configured to serve “as a buffer zone” that included Garden Grove.

But, he said, its original intent was lost in 1991, when the boundaries of Area 2 were greatly reduced.

Maddox contends that the area system is also largely irrelevant, since each member is supposed to represent the entire district anyway.

At a recent meeting, the board voted 5-2 to direct the district’s chancellor to prepare a petition for realigning the district into two areas instead of three.

“I want to split [Areas 1 and 3] right down the middle, because it makes more sense,” said Maddox, who plans to suggest the change at a board meeting Monday night. Critics of the move plan to complain that he’s acting in his own interest and not that of the taxpayers.

The meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. at the district’s headquarters, at 17th Street and Bristol Street in Santa Ana.

“It’s an issue of principle,” said Mara Brandman, 51, a resident of Orange Park Acres and a former board member. “You don’t use political office to make changes like this, because it suits you personally. This is one of those things that makes people look askance at politicians.”

Joining Brandman in opposition is board member Lawrence R. Labrado, who voted against the motion to reduce the district to two areas. Brandman, Labrado and others also have criticized Maddox’s move by saying it attempts to shift the board’s balance of power by taking a member from Santa Ana and adding one to more affluent communities in Area 3.

Brandman said that if Maddox fails, he would not be able to run as an incumbent in Area 3, a privilege he would enjoy in running for reelection in 1998 from Area 2.

Maddox sighed and said: “She’s wrong. I’d be giving that up automatically. It’s a false argument. If I stay in my area, I can run as an incumbent, but if the boundary changes in any way, I can no longer run as an incumbent--and the thing that means most to me is to change the boundary.”

“If they don’t like it, all they’ve got to do is vote it down,” said Maddox. He said his family is moving to accommodate his 13-year-old daughter, who has no place to ride her horse near the family’s current home in Santa Ana.