If you missed co-signing this letter, it's important that you submit input directly to Citizens Redistricting Commission in writing and/or in person.  The deadline is June 28.  See details. Questions? Contact info@savingCA.org.

June 28, 2011

California Citizens Redistricting Commission
901 P Street, Suite 154-A
Sacramento, California 95814

Dear Commissioners,

"Between the river and the range is Yolo.  This is not only a poetical but is a geographical fact, as the county’s eastern line is the Rio Sacramento and its western wall is a chain of the coastal mountains; between is a great plain of wonderful fertility, and that is the topic and scene of this work.

From "A History of Yolo County", by Tom Gregory, 1913

Yolo County is a community like many others, but our pride and focus in two key areas sets us apart.  The first is our dedication to the preservation of ag land and open space.  More so than any of the surrounding counties, Yolo County has retained its value of preserving and protecting our agricultural and environmental heritages.  All one need do is look around and see our values in practice:  small, sustainable cities surrounded by acres and acres of productive and prosperous farm land.  We celebrate deep roots in good soil.

The second is the extraordinary degree of cooperation we enjoy with one another.  The communities that comprise Yolo County - be they the four small cities or the numerous towns and smaller centers of population - all share a history of working together to resolve problems.

Be it water or bike paths, transportation corridors or air quality, we work very hard to cooperate and to emerge with practical and positive solutions to our problems.  We place a high value on collaboration and cooperation.  It is, in a very real sense, who we are.

This may be reflective of our scale.  For the most part we are simply too small to launch major initiatives on our own; instead we place a premium on efficiency and effectiveness.  We look for ways to share resources and to make prudent investments and to practice the art of being a good neighbor.  These are increasingly unique qualities in modern times and they set us apart. 

Like everywhere, our communities are changing rapidly.  There is a growing recognition of the need for clean and sustainable economic development.  There is increased awareness of need to partner on public works projects - be it the development of more sources of water, or bike paths between population centers, or a need to locate more ag processing facilities where they will be able to better service county ag interests. 

We value where we live.  We work here, start businesses and raise our children here.  We make our homes here, creating neighborhoods where people know and care about one another.  We have our challenges and resolve to meet them head on. 

We work together to prepare for our future.  We take pride in municipal teamwork.  We partner on water and tourism and infrastructure and law enforcement issues and fire safety and emergency services and parkland and road maintenance and air quality and flood control, and the list goes on.  Our partnerships work because we share similar values and a common connection to the land.

We are ever mindful to increase and improve the quality of our partnerships, to celebrate and to value cooperation and collaboration.  Our willingness to discuss and work on new models of service delivery sets us apart.  These traditions and practices and policies exist because we are truly interwoven, interconnected and inter-related. 

Clearly, we constitute “a contiguous population which shares common social and economic interests and which should be included within a single district for purposes of effective and fair representation.” -- Section(2(d)(4) of Article XXI of the California Constitution

We ask that you respect our traditions and our history of putting agrarian principles into practice.  Those shared principles have guided and shaped so much of our planning and way of life here.  As one of California’s original counties, we respectfully request of the Commission that you honor our way of life and established practices of cooperation and collaboration by re-uniting our county.  

Thank you.

Residents of Yolo County:

Christine K Adams
Jan Agee
Sheila Allen
Ruth Asmundson
Michael Bartolic
Sue Barton
Janet Berry
Giacomo Bonanno
Shivan Bonanno
Ray Borton
Verena Borton
Carol Bourne
Richard Bourne
Dan Braunstein
Millie Braunstein
Ann Brice
Deborah Brittan
Ida Bryan
Davis Burmester
Libby Burmester
Davis Campbell
Jean Canary
Ellen Coppock
Christina Craig-Veit
Jane Deamer
Lynn DeLapp
Charles Derby
Marian Derby
Denise Dickson
Martie Dote
Delaine Eastin
Glen Erickson
Vahid Farahyar
Tim Fenton
Lis Fleming
Jim Frame
Leanne Friedman
Kari Fry
Wayne Ginsburg
Christine L. Granger
Jan Jursnich
Anne Hawke
Michael Hulsizer
Patrica Hutchinson
Hiram Jackson
Carl Jorgensen
Mary Anne Kirsch
Michael Koltnow
Marcia Kreith
Charlotte Krovoza
Rachel Livingston
Richard Livingston
Susan Lovenburg
Richard McAdam
C. Jane McKendry
Besty Marchand
Jerry Marr
Kathy Marr
Jim Mayer
Lynanne Mehlhaff
Jenny Melton
Kingsley Melton
Rita Montes Martin
Karen Mo
Donna Lynne Moreno
Don Morrill
Karen Naliboff
Margaret Neu
Lynne Nittler
Barbara Ohlendorf
Harry Ohlendorf
Don Palm
Dennis Pendleton
Ann Privateer
Sherry Richter Puntillo
Andrea Ransdell
Cliff Roblee
Frank Roe
Christine Robbins
D.B. Robinson
Jim Rodgers
Cirenio Rodriguez
Juelie Roggli
Gary Sandy
Don Saylor
Lucy Landon Scarlett
David Scheuring
Stephen Schuchman
Heather Smith
Lawson Snipes, Jr.
Al Sokolow
Sandra Sokolow
Stephen Souza
Joanna Stone
Walter Swain
Brian Sway
Helen Thomson
Elise Tidrick
Gene Trapp
Jo Ellen Trapp
Eric Vink
Joanne Volario
Ken Wagstaff
Sandy Weiss
Terry Whittier
Matthew Williams, Jr.
Merline Williams
Dan Wolk
Francesca Wright
Cari Cummings Ziegler