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State could put WG into its single Assembly District 24
Cohn would now represent all of Willow Glen area
By Kate Carter
A proposal to change the boundaries of the state assembly districts would put Willow Glen entirely within District 24.
State legislators will vote on the proposal this week to meet the deadline for reapportioning the state's population to reflect data from the 2000 U.S. census in time for the upcoming election season.
Much of Willow Glen is now in District 23 and represented by Rep. Manny Diaz, a Democrat. Portions of Willow Glen in the south and west are in District 24, represented by Rep. Rebecca Cohn, also a Democrat.
The two districts are being moved east because of what Cohn calls a "squish" in the area. The populations of assembly districts in the Peninsula need to increase in order to meet the target of about 430,000 people in each district throughout the state. Those districts must grow in size and are forcing districts in the South Bay to change boundaries significantly.
"It's forced everybody in the peninsula to go south," Diaz said.
Diaz, whose district now covers areas of downtown and East San Jose into the East Foothills, would be partially moved out of downtown and concentrated more in East San Jose. Cohn would take up some parts of West San Jose and downtown, as well as more areas of South San Jose.
"I was really surprised," Diaz said of the changes to his district. He said he has been contacted by some of his constituents in the proposed change areas. "There are concerns. You have to be sensitive," he said.
Diaz said he is working with the leadership to see what could be done to preserve communities of interest in Willow Glen as well as downtown San Jose. But he said he understands that there may not be much opportunity to change the proposal, as his district has slightly more than the target population and Cohn has about 30,000 too few, he said.
Cohn said it makes sense that her district would take some of his areas.
"I'm not surprised," she said. "I needed to pick up population and I needed to move into that area of San Jose. Willow Glen is the kind of community that I'm currently serving. And making it whole is also a good thing."
She would be losing Cupertino, Monte Sereno and Los Gatos from her district but continue to represent other local residential and neighborhood business centers, Saratoga and Campbell.
Cohn and Diaz are first-term representatives elected last year; they took office in January. Diaz said his district would remain a Democratic stronghold if the proposal is approved. Cohn, who replaced Republican Rep. Jim Cunneen, said the boundary changes would soften the historically Republican nature of the district.
"My district will probably be a little more Democratic than before, but not much," she said.
While Diaz said he would like to continue to represent Willow Glen and "preserve as much as possible of the community that I have," Cohn said she is looking forward to representing all of Willow Glen.
"I'm pretty hands-on," she said. "I spend a lot of time in my district. I certainly could represent Willow Glen well. I just need to keep tabs on who the district is as it changes. I'm hoping to represent Willow Glen."
State senate districts are also being modified, but proposed changes wouldn't significantly affect Willow Glen. Most of Willow Glen north of Pine Avenue is located in senate District 13, represented by Sen. John Vasconcellos, a Democrat. District 11, represented by Sen. Byron Sher, a Democrat, includes Willow Glen south of Pine Avenue. In the proposed changes to those boundaries, District 11 would include some areas of Willow Glen north of Pine Avenue, but it wouldn't be a significant increase. The final decision about the state senate redistricting will also be made this week.
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Willow Glen, California Since 1992
