Loma Linda Opposes District Plan

Concerned that their city will be grouped in a congressional district with larger west end cities, the Loma Linda City Council on Tuesday gave Mayor Rhodes Rigsby authority to write a letter to the state’s redistricting commission opposing the move.

Loma Linda has historically been grouped in a district with Redlands, Rigsby told the council during a special meeting Tuesday. But the California Citizens Redistricting Commission is proposing to move the city out of the 41st District under Jerry Lewis.

The latest draft of the map puts Loma Linda the 43rd with Fontana, Rialto and San Bernardino. A first draft included Loma Linda and a section of Redlands in the new district. But a second draft provided to the council now restored all of Redlands and Highland to its original district, but not Loma Linda, Rigsby said.

The city wants to remain with Redlands, which it considers its sister city.

The cities have common economic interests, said councilman Stan Brauer. The city also relies on Redlands for many services, including the school district.

“It makes sense to me to advocate that we preserve those working relationships,” Brauer said. “Supervisor Neil Derry has written to the commission that Loma Linda and Redlands, in essence, really are sister cities functionally, economically and socially. It would be counter productive to the commission’s goals to split us from the (east end) communities.”

A large portion of the physicians and supporting hospital and university staff live in Redlands, Rigsby said.

“It would be a little bit off for those people to address different representatives for their work interests versus their home interests,” Rigsby said. “We have work-live relationships that were established over essentially a century.”

There is also a concern the city will be the odd “man” out if grouped with others that have established working relationships.

In the current district, “We have a historical place and our place is as the major healthcare employer for the Inland Empire,” Rigsby said. “My concern with having the center of gravity of the district shift westward is that their concerns are different. It’s historically not the same emphasis. In our interactions with government, we had a representative from Redlands, and they are naturally aligned with Loma Linda Medical Center’s needs.”

The council worried they would lose some of their influence. Loma Linda and Redlands are united, Rigsby said.

The commission has been taking input from residents and city officials.

Rigsby told the council this is the last week the redistricting commission would be taking input. On Tuesday, council members gave Mayor Rigsby their input as to what they wanted emphasized.