Brown Asks Redistricting Panel to OK Democrats’ Plan

SACRAMENTO — Assembly Speaker Willie Brown on Thursday urged the state Supreme Court’s panel of “special masters” to adopt a Democrat-drawn plan for new Assembly districts, a plan already vetoed by Republican Gov. Pete Wilson.

Brown’s comments came as the three-member panel of retired judges opened the first of six public hearings it will hold before drafting the new district lines at the end of November.

The court appointed the retired judges to do the job after the governor and the Legislature reached an impasse. Congressional and legislative lines must be redrawn to reflect populationshifts detected in the 1990 U.S. Census.

Brown said the plan he advocates was “absolutely perfect in every respect.” He said two other plans he also presented had changes to appease incumbents but were still “99%-plus” of perfect. He said he would be satisfied with any of the three.

All three plans, Brown said, would create 80 districts with populations varying by no more than nine people from the ideal district size, and would abide by the federal Voting Rights Act, which protects the rights of ethnic minorities.

Republican lawmakers and the governor have said the plans were drawn to maximize Democratic representation and probably would violate the Voting Rights Act.