The San Jose City Council recently decided that it didn't make much sense for its members to play a role in setting their own salaries.
They were right. There are certain things over which elected officials shouldn't have any control at all - issues having to do with their compensation and issues relating to their employment.
But some officials refuse to get that message. They hang on to their jobs by doggedly clinging to their power of creating the very districts that elect them.
Republicans and Democrats joyously cooperate in defining these districts. They create districts that have no symmetry and no logic other than that of being either safely Republican or safely Democratic. A few officials recognize the immorality of this position. Our Governor is among them.
They try regularly to give the districting power to others - to special commissions selected in various ways. But the majority of officials have defeated these attempts by demonstrating that none of them is perfect.
True, not perfect. But a whole lot better than keeping that power in the hands of those who most benefit from it. Let's support the governor's efforts to take the districting power away from them.
This is Robert Kieve, and that's a personal opinion.
