Recently, Assembly Bill 1441 passed out of the Assembly and currently is in the Senate awaiting committee hearings. This bill proposes the creation of a redistricting commission specifically for Merced County.
The Merced County Board of Supervisors is deeply committed to fair, transparent, and representative government. Our redistricting efforts have been so thorough and community-driven that they received approval from the U.S. Department of Justice.
As Chairman of the Board, I traveled to Sacramento to testify because when decisions are made about our county without local input, it is our responsibility to speak up. I thanked Assemblymember Esmeralda Soria for her willingness to consider amendments. However, despite repeated follow-ups and specific proposals I have sent to her and her office, there has been no meaningful effort to work collaboratively on a solution that is both effective and fair.
Beyond the lack of engagement from Assemblymember Soria, AB 1441 is flawed in substance. It would impose nearly $1 million in unanticipated, unfunded costs on the County—resources that should be directed toward delivering the services our residents rely on every day such as public safety, road repairs, park improvements, and more. At a time when California faces a $13 billion budget deficit and looming cuts to Medi-Cal, CalFresh, education, and housing, as well as an uncertain federal budget, Sacramento is prioritizing a redistricting process that will not even take place for another five years.
In Merced County, 59% of residents rely on social services. We have the third-highest Medi-Cal enrollment rate in the entire country, and 27% of our youth depend on food assistance. These aren’t just statistics, they are our families, neighbors, and community. Now is not the time to play politics because a local board doesn’t align with someone’s preferences. Now is the time to focus on helping people, not reshaping governance to satisfy a political agenda. We should focus on affordable housing, health, and safety for residents instead of another costly and unnecessary bureaucratic process.
The bill also includes overly rigid restrictions on who can serve on the proposed commission, limitations that I believe don’t strengthen democracy, they hinder it.
That’s why I proposed a balanced alternative, allowing each Supervisor to nominate one person from their districts, with four at-large members jointly appointed by the local Assemblymember and State Senator. This model promotes representation, boosts participation, and removes the partisanship built into AB 1441.
To be clear, I am not opposed to oversight. I welcome opportunities to improve how we govern, and without speaking for my colleagues, I believe they do as well. But I strongly oppose top-down legislation that ignores local voices and bypasses the very communities it claims to serve. Good policy isn’t about control, it’s about communication, collaboration, and compromise.
The residents of Merced County deserve better than rushed bills and soundbite politics. They deserve real engagement, thoughtful solutions, and a seat at the table when decisions are made about their future. That’s what I will continue to stand up for, not just as Chairman of the Board of Supervisors, but as the elected representative for District 2, and as a voice for the people who live, work, and raise families in Merced County.