On April 23, 2019, the City Council adopted a resolution declaring intent to transition from at-large councilmember elections to district-based elections pursuant to Elections Code section 10010.  The City Council held the first public hearing to receive community input regarding district boundaries for district-based elections on June 25, 2019.

On March 15, 2019, the City received a letter from MALDEF alleging a violation of the California Voting Rights Act (the "CVRA") and demanding that the City move to district-based elections for the City Council (the “Demand Letter”). The City currently has an at-large election system whereby voters throughout the entire City choose each of the four councilmembers, as well as the mayor. If the City utilized by-district elections, the City would be physically divided into separate districts, with each district represented by one councilmember who resides in that district and is selected only by voters of that district.

On April 23, 2019, the City adopted a resolution declaring intent to transition from at-large elections to district-based elections pursuant to Elections Code section 10010. Pursuant to the the CVRA, within 90 days of passing the resolution of intention, the City must hold five public hearings to draw district maps, adopt an ordinance, and transition to district elections. This 90-day period may be extended to 180 days with the consent of MALDEF. The City and MALDEF executed an agreement providing the City with 180 days to complete this transition process.

The process to transition from at-large councilmember elections to district based councilmember elections is established by Elections Code section 10010. The City must hold at least two initial public hearings to receive input on the composition of the district maps before draft district maps are drawn. The City Council held its first public hearing on June 25, 2019.  

The process to transition from at-large councilmember elections to district based councilmember elections is established by Elections Code section 10010. The City must hold at least two initial public hearings to receive input on the composition of the district maps before draft district maps are drawn. The City must then hold a third and fourth public hearing after the maps are drawn to receive public input on the content of the draft maps and the proposed sequence of elections for each district. A fifth and final public hearing will be held before the City adopts an ordinance implementing the selected council election district map. The City has 180 days from April 23, 2019 to complete the transition process.

The City has scheduled the first two public hearings to occur on June 25 and July 9. Draft district maps will first be considered at a public hearing on August 13. The draft maps will be published to the public and posted on the City’s website no later than August 6.

            Public Input on Composition of Districts

No proposed district maps have been drawn yet. The purpose of the first and second public hearings is to identify neighborhoods, “communities of interest,” and other local factors that should be considered or used as “building blocks” to begin drafting maps. The public is welcome to participate in the process by drawing district lines and submitting their proposed district maps for the City. The City will provide information to the public to allow for the submittal of draft district maps for City Council consideration.  It is important to note that the maps are likely to experience considerable change as they move from initial drafts to a final adopted map.

Under Elections Code Section 10010, draft districting maps and the related proposed election year sequencing must be published seven days prior to the initial public hearing where Council considers those maps. Because the first hearing on the draft maps is scheduled for August 13, draft maps will be published on the City website and will be made available to the pubic no later than August 6.

State law also requires that any new maps created later in the process be posted at least seven days prior to consideration by City Council. The final selected map must also be published seven days prior to adoption by City Council.

            Mapping Process

Following the two initial public hearings that are held prior to the release of official draft maps, the City’s demographic consultant, National Demographic Corporation (“NDC”), will provide a set of two to four draft maps, which will be published along with all of the maps received from the public. The goal of the NDC maps is to start the discussion by providing a set of significantly different maps that show a range of options, not “the best” map. Over the course of the hearings, all maps will be discussed and narrowed down to “focus” maps that are then redrawn and revised to improve upon them. If the City is prepared at the conclusion of the August 13 hearing to designate its preferred map, City Council can instruct staff to include the selected map in a draft ordinance at the subsequent fourth public hearing scheduled for September 9.

            Criteria for Creating District Maps

Federal law requires that city council election districts comply with the Federal Voting Rights Act and avoid using race as a predominate factor in drawing district lines. In addition, the districts shall contain nearly equal total populations, although small population deviations are allowed. Specifically, the total population of the largest and smallest districts cannot vary by more than ten percent of the ideal district population size. For example, in a city of 100,000 people, the ideal district size would be 25,000 people in each of the four districts. Accordingly, the largest and smallest district in this city could not have more than a 2,500 person difference. Although up to ten percent deviations in population are allowed, the best practice is to keep any population differences within five percent.

In addition, the City Council may wish to consider “traditional redistricting principles” in creating the district maps. These principles represent goals, rather than requirements, and the City will ultimately need to select the final district map that best balances these often competing goals. Traditional redistricting principles include:

• Respect for communities of interest;
• Compact and contiguous districts;
• Districts that follow major visible features such as rivers or major roads; and
• Consideration of planned future growth areas is allowed, but not required.

The definition of a community of interest is very flexible, as long as race is not the predominate factor in that definition. Some communities of interest may request to be divided by district boundary lines, which may dilute their ability to elect one favored candidate in each district that divides them. However, in exchange, dividing communities of interest may give the community a direct connection to multiple councilmembers instead of only one councilmember.

            Sequence of Elections

Under the current at-large system, all voters in the City vote every two years to select the councilmember positions that are vacant that election year. With the change to by-district elections, each voter will only vote once every four years for an individual to represent the district in which the voter lives. In addition to establishing district maps, the City Council must also decide the sequence in which each district will select its councilmember. No current councilmember’s term may be cut short. Accordingly, in November 2020, only one of the four council districts will elect a councilmember (the mayor will also be selected at this election). The other three districts will elect a councilmember in 2022. 

There are no direct costs associated with the City Council conducting a public hearing to solicit community input on boundaries and composition of new council election districts.

Staff recommends the City Council conduct a second public hearing to solicit community input on the potential boundaries and composition of new council election districts.