APALC redistricting campaign to protect AAPI communities
0Los Angeles (Jan. 18, 2011) – The Asian Pacific American Legal Center (APALC), a member of Asian American Center for Advancing Justice, has launched a campaign to get Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities engaged in redistricting, which is the process of redrawing voting district boundaries every ten years based on census data. APALC anchors a statewide network of AAPI community organizations called the Coalition of Asian Pacific Americans for Fair Redistricting (CAPAFR), which is holding community meetings statewide in January and February to assist AAPI communities in understanding and participating in the redistricting process. A schedule of meetings can be found below.
CAPAFR’s work will help AAPI communities provide input to California’s new Citizens Redistricting Commission, which is the governmental body responsible for conducting redistricting for the Assembly, State Senate, Board of Equalization, and California’s 53 Congressional seats. The commission also will hold public hearings throughout California in the next few months. Community input at the hearings will be an important factor in whether the commission draws district lines that keep communities together or splits them unfairly.
The goal of CAPAFR’s meetings is to provide AAPI community members with an opportunity to review potential district configurations and to collect feedback on which configurations best articulate regional AAPI interests and concerns. It is vital that a broad range of AAPI community members attend the meetings because their feedback will be incorporated by CAPAFR into statewide Assembly and State Senate mapping proposals.
Sometime after the Census Bureau releases Census 2010 redistricting data in March 2011, CAPAFR will submit these statewide mapping proposals to the commission. The CAPAFR mapping proposals will illustrate how AAPI communities of interest should be kept together. CAPAFR also will prepare community members to testify before the commission about their communities’ interests and concerns. The commission will hold two rounds of hearings this year, and has a deadline of August 15 to establish new district boundaries.
Questions about CAPAFR should be directed to Deanna Kitamura, Statewide Redistricting Manager at APALC, who can be reached at 213-241-0232 or [email protected], or Eugene Lee, Voting Rights Project Director at APALC, who can be reached at 213-241-0212 or [email protected]
Additional information about CAPAFR can be found at www.capafr.org. The commission’s website iswww.wedrawthelines.ca.org.
CAPAFR Community Meetings
Los Angeles County – Metro LA
January 18, 2011
6:00PM – 8:30PM
Asian Pacific American Legal Center
1145 Wilshire Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90017
RSVP: Mark Masaoka, [email protected]
Orange County
January 22, 2011
9:15AM – 11:45AM
Dayle McIntosh Center
13272 Garden Grove Blvd.
Garden Grove, CA 92843
RSVP: Asma Men, [email protected]
San Diego County
January 29, 2011
10:00AM – 12:30PM
Alliant International University, Green Hall
10455 Pomerado Road
San Diego, CA 92131
RSVP: Palma Hooper, [email protected]
Sacramento County
February 1, 2011
5:30PM – 8:00PM
Asian Resources
915 Broadway
Sacramento, CA 95818
RSVP: May Lee, [email protected]
Fresno County
February 7, 2010
6:00PM – 8:30PM
Fresno Center for New Americans
4879 E. Kings Canyon Road
Fresno, CA 93727
RSVP: Fuehoua Thao, [email protected]
Santa Clara County
February 9, 2011
6:00PM – 8:30PM
Yu-Ai Kai Community Center
588 N. 4th St., 3rd Fl
San Jose, CA 95112
RSVP: Jackie Maruhashi, [email protected]
Alameda County
February 15, 2011
5:30PM – 8:00PM
Oakland Asian Cultural Center
388 9th St.
Oakland, CA 94607
RSVP: Jenn Pae, [email protected]
Los Angeles County – South Bay
February 17, 2011
6:00PM – 8:30PM
Japanese Cultural Institute
1964 W. 162nd St., 2nd Fl
Gardena, CA 90247
RSVP: Mark Masaoka, [email protected]
Los Angeles County – San Gabriel Valley
February 22, 2011
6:00PM – 8:30PM
Bruggemeyer Library
318 S. Ramona Ave., 2nd Fl
Monterey Park, CA 91754
RSVP: Mark Masaoka, [email protected]
San Francisco and San Mateo Counties
February 24, 2011
5:30PM – 8:00PM
Asian Law Caucus
55 Columbus Ave.
San Francisco, CA 94111
RSVP: Carlo De La Cruz, [email protected]
Founded in 1983, the Asian Pacific American Legal Center (APALC) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to advocating for civil rights, providing legal services and education, and building coalitions to positively influence and impact Asian Pacific Americans and to create a more equitable and harmonious society. APALC is a member of Asian American Center for Advancing Justice, which also includes Asian American Institute (Chicago, IL), Asian American Justice Center (Washington, DC) and Asian Law Caucus (San Francisco, CA).
