How to impact redistricting

Congratulations to your reporter Bill Kisliuk for his article on the impact of the new redistricting reform on our cities (“District revamp to challenge Reps,” April 3). It gives an accurate appraisal of the issues at stake.

What the people in our communities need to focus on is that their personal testimony to the Citizens Redistricting Commission will be crucial. If you want to make sure the commission understands what kind of districts you want, you’ll need to prepare testimony to submit, either at hearings or in writing.

It’s not hard. All you need is a printed Google map, or a paper AAA map, and a specific description of your neighborhood or community. The commission has provided guidance about how to testify, which you can find on its website www.wedrawthelines.ca.gov. Just click on “Learn More” and download the Toolkit.

If you have questions, you can contact the League of Women Voters at redistricting@lwvc.org. As the process goes forward, I look forward to seeing and hearing testimony from our communities about how we want to map our future.

Chris Carson

Burbank

Editor’s note: Carson is co-president of the League of Women Voters Glendale/Burbank and serves as Redistricting Program Director for the state nonprofit.

Let’s spend more here, less there

I rarely pick up a paper that I don’t see yet another article on Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Burbank) working on aid for a foreign country.

The latest article on March 27, “Local reps talk of aiding Middle East,” told us of his attending a subcommittee hearing with Secretary of State Hilary Clinton seeking economic stimulus to help democracy flower in Egypt and Tunisia.

I am sure this is of importance in our world, but I have to wonder which foreign country they plan to borrow the $20 million from. Our national debt is well over a trillion dollars and growing and we — private citizens and business alike — have been hearing for months that we need to be fiscally responsible.

Perhaps our government officials should try leading by example. To add to my frustration, I picked up a magazine in a doctor’s office and the cover and lead story was regarding the fact that “16.7 million American kids — that’s nearly one out of four kids in this country — are at risk of not getting enough to eat and one of the tragic elements is that it doesn’t have to be that way.”

That, coupled with the facts of unemployment, people losing their homes, empty shelves at our aid centers and the homeless, leads me to ask how can we afford to continue to borrow money from foreign countries to send to other foreign countries, thereby increasing our debts even further.

I have sent letters to Schiff with these questions but have not received an answer. I would really like some answers from someone.

Nancy Lauder

Burbank

Caruso gets things done

I don’t understand how anyone in Glendale cannot like Rick Caruso. He gets things done now, and not in 2025-50.

I wonder how many people enjoyed the view from the Marketplace and how much money they spent there. I wish he would come to Burbank and wake up the folks at the Town Center and on San Fernando Boulevard. Maybe he can get us a J.C. Penney store and a Norm’s restaurant and our own Americana.

He is not only wealthy, but he is smarter than the out-of-state people who own the Glendale Galleria and Town Center.

Lee Brandt

Burbank