How they divide up MP is much less improtant than fixing a broken gerrymandering system. There is no way to do that if every community fights tooth & nail for their own special interests. The fact we do not know (ie, it is not obvious) if the new proposal results in more clout for BelleHaven is proof enough to me that we have more important things to worry about then the outcome of this vitally important redrawing of the lines by citizens not the legislature.

Vice Mayor Keith is correct. Is is very important to keep all of Menlo Park together in one Congressional District. I believe the rationale for the second iteration was to keep Belle Haven and East Palo Alto together in one Congressional district since they have similar needs. I can also understand its rationale to maintain Districts' similar sizes and shapes.

However, there are alternatives that can achieve the above stated goals while keeping Menlo Park in one district. I propose that Woodside be allocated to Congresswoman Speer's district while Belle Haven and East Palo Alto be allocated to Congresswoman Eshoo's District.

Due to the populations of the respective neighborhoods, it might be more balanced populatin wise to swap Woodside and Portola Valley for Belle Haven and East Palo Alto.

What's the final statewide congressional tally? Dems likely to gain five still? With citizen redrawing, California's natural color seems to be coming out further.

Blue gets bluer. Gotta love California.

Regarding the numbers and random oddities - how likely was it the two districts could be sliced to having a population difference of a mere one resident?!?

I always thought CA districts represented around 450-500K, but now they're covering 702,906 residents.

Plus or minus one.