Over the last few years, residents and community partners of Building Healthy Communities Kern have been working hard to bring positive changes to their communities.
Any type of elected official–from city council member to mayor to senator to whatever–needs to really understand his or her constituents to best represent them. Ideally, the office holder should live in the same community as the families and folks they serve.
Currently, KHSD has a serious problem when it comes to equitable representation. According to a recent story in the Bakersfield Californian, three of the five board members live within a few miles of one another in the northwest area of Bakersfield. Meanwhile, the rural areas of Arvin, Lamont and Weedpatch do not have a single person from their area on the KHSD school board.
This strikes at the heart of the issue. The redistricting plan offered by the Dolores Huerta Foundation and supported by many other prominent community groups from Kern County–all partners of Building Healthy Communities Kern–does a much better job of taking into account “communities of interest,” which is an integral part of drawing boundaries that are more equitable. Yes, it’s important to have two majority Latino trustee areas, but the concept of communities of interest is much more than ethnicity. The proposed maps also focused on other factors like geography, religion and economics. By focusing on creating communities of interest, we are more likely to have a representative who can really hear and respect community voice.
To read more of The California Endowment's post, please click here.
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