Proposition 11 backers airing new radio ad

SACRAMENTO - The backers of Proposition 11 unveiled a new radio ad set to begin airing statewide that puts the onus of responsibility for many of the state's ongoing woes at the feet of legislators who are unafraid of losing re-election.

"It's not about Republicans or Democrats," said Jeannine English, California AARP president, in introducing the 30-second commercial. "It's about legislators being accountable to their constituents."

The ad features a man and a woman discussing the performance of the state legislature, saying they've been slow, or even negligent, in addressing such issues as water, health care, the state budget, and energy costs.

The woman in the ad says that legislators spend their time taking junkets, drawing salaries, being pampered by their staff, and meeting with lobbyists.

Proposition 11, which would reform how political districts are drawn, is described as the way to solve the problem in the ad, which does not describe how the measure works.

Under the somewhat complex process used in Proposition 11, state auditors would create a pool of potential redistricting commissioners, with those commissioners then selected to a 14-member panel by both the auditors and the commissioners themselves.

Further criteria apply to both how the districts would be drawn and approved.

English said that explaining all that in 30 seconds would have been impossible.

Trudy Schafer, senior director with the 11-backing League of Women Voters of California, said the measure would be more fully explained before the Nov. 4 election.

A group opposing the measure said the commercial's lack of information on 11 was no mistake.

"No mention of the Governor and the millions poured into this flawed initiative by developers, investment tycoons and oil companies  -  only phony promises that Prop. 11 can't possibly deliver, all to fool voters into embracing their hidden agenda," Paul Hefner, spokesman for 11's opponents Citizens for Accountability, said in an email.

"Seems like they'll do anything to avoid talking about their actual initiative  -  the confusing process it creates, the way most California communities will have no say when districts or drawn, or their hidden agenda to help politicians like themselves," he said in the email to PolitickerCA.com.

English, who would not say exactly how much was being spent on the ad or how long it would run, added that the pro-11 campaign is planning television commercials as well.

Derek Cressman, a regional director with California Common Cause, said it's fair to draw a connection between intransigence on state issues and the relative safety of most legislators' re-election bids.

"If there's gridlock, then they're not paying a price," he said. "There is no accountability, and that impacts all of the issues brought to the legislature."