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Politi-Cal

Lawmakers assigned to serve areas temporarily without representatives

By Patrick McGreevy
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Many state Senators will serve as caretakers for communities outside their official districts for the next two years to address a quirk caused by the redistricting process.

Legislative district boundaries were redrawn in 2011, with some new districts overlapping old ones. Only half of the 40 Senate districts, the newly drawn odd-numbered districts, were up for election last year. Some communities in the old odd-numbered districts were moved into new even-numbered districts, but the election for even-numbered districts will not occur until 2014.

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That has left nearly 4 million Californians without an elected representative in the Senate for the next two years, while others temporarily have two Senators. The Senate Rules Committee last week approved a plan to have many Senators serve as caretakers, providing constituent services for areas that would otherwise be unrepresented in the upper House. For instance:

Sen. Ted Lieu (D-Torrance) of the 28th Senate District will serve as caretaker senator for parts of Santa Monica, Rancho Palos Verdes, Brentwood, West Hollywood and Westwood that would otherwise go two years without an elected representative.

Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Pacoima) of the 20th Senate District will be the caretaker for parts of Studio City and Sherman Oaks.

Sen. Bill Emmerson (R-Riverside) of the 23rd Senate District will temporarily represent parts of Palm Springs, La Quinta and Idyllwild.

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--Patrick McGreevy in Sacramento

Caption: Sen. Ted Lieu (D-Torrance) will temporarily serve residents of some West Los Angeles neighborhoods left without representation for two years by the new redistricting plan. Credit: Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press

Politi-Cal
Patrick McGreevy

Patrick McGreevy covered the California Legislature out of the Sacramento bureau until 2021. He joined the Los Angeles Times in 1998 and worked in the City Hall and San Fernando Valley bureaus, writing about subjects including Valley secession, LAPD reform and city government during the administrations of Mayors Richard Riordan, James Hahn and Antonio Villaraigosa. He is a native of San Diego and a graduate of San Jose State University.

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