Report Prepared by: Jennifer Levesque, Assistant City Clerk, City Clerk’s Department
Title
SUBJECT: Public Hearing (to be Heard at 7PM) to Receive a Report from Staff on the Redistricting Process and Permissible Criteria to be Considered to Redraw the Council District Map, to Receive Input from the Community Regarding the Redrawing of Election District Boundaries, Direction Regarding an Advisory Committee, and Scheduling Remaining Required Public Hearings
REPORT IN BRIEF
Public Hearing to inform Council and the public on the redistricting process, allow community input regarding the redrawing of the Council District Map, provide staff direction on an advisory committee, and scheduling remaining required Public Hearings.
RECOMMENDATION
Receive public input on the redrawing of election district boundaries, provide direction to staff regarding an advisory committee and scheduling the required Public Hearings.
Body
ALTERNATIVES
1. Approve as recommended by staff; seek public input on the redrawing of election district boundaries; or,
2. Return to staff with specific direction; or,
3. Deny.
AUTHORITY
Merced City Charter, Sections 400 and 1000
California Election Code Section 21620
CITY COUNCIL PRIORITIES
Adopting a Redistricting Map.
DISCUSSION
Every ten years, cities with by district election systems must use new census data to review and, if needed, redraw district lines to reflect how local populations have changed. This process, called redistricting, ensures all districts have nearly equal population. The redistricting process must be completed by April 17, 2022.
The City adopted its current district boundaries on October 19, 2015. The current district boundaries are based on 2010 census data as required by law. The districts must now be redrawn using the 2020 census data and be in compliance with the FAIR MAPS Act, which was adopted by the California legislature as AB 849 and took effect January 1, 2020.
Under the Act, the council shall draw and adopt boundaries using the following criteria in the listed order of priority (Elections Code 21621(c)):
1. Comply with the federal requirements of equal population and the Voting Rights Act
2. Geographically contiguous
3. Undivided neighborhoods and “communities of interest” (socio-economic geographic areas that should be kept together)
4. Easily identifiable boundaries
5. Compact (do not bypass one group of people to get to a more distant group of people)
6. Shall not favor or discriminate against a political party
Once the prioritized criteria are met, other traditional districting principles can be
considered, such as:
1. Minimize the number of voters delayed from voting from 2022 to 2024
2. Respect voters’ choices / continuity in office
3. Future population growth
By law, the City must hold at least four public hearings that enable community
members to provide input on the drawing of district maps:
• At least one hearing must occur before the city draws draft maps
• At least two hearings must happen after the drawing of draft maps
• The fourth hearing can happen either before or after the drawing of draft maps
• City staff or consultants may hold a public workshop instead of one of the
required public redistricting hearings
To increase the accessibility of these hearings, cities and counties must take the
following steps:
• At least one hearing must occur on a Saturday, Sunday, or after 6 p.m. on a
Weekday
• If a redistricting hearing is consolidated with another local government meeting,
the redistricting hearing portion must begin at a pre-designated time
• Local public redistricting hearings should be made accessible to people with
disabilities
The purpose of this public hearing is to inform the public about the districting process and to hear from the community on what factors should be taken into consideration while creating district boundaries. The public is requested to provide input regarding communities of interest and other local factors that should be considered while drafting district maps. A community of interest under the relevant Elections Code 21621(c) is “a population that shares common social or economic interests that should be included within a single district for purposes of its effective and fair representation.”
Possible features defining community of interest might include, but are not limited to:
A. School attendance areas;
B. Natural dividing lines such as major roads, hills, or highways;
C. Areas around parks and other neighborhood landmarks;
D. Common issues, neighborhood activities, or legislative/election concerns; and
E. Shared demographic characteristics, such as:
(1) Similar levels of income and education;
(2) Languages spoken at home; and
(3) Single-family and multi-family housing unit areas.
Boundaries cannot be adopted earlier than August 1, 2021 and must be adopted
before April 17, 2022. However, the U.S. Census Bureau has indicated they will
not release data before September 30, 2021.
Next steps:
Provide staff direction on potential creation of an advisory committee or direct staff to hold staff driven community workshops in lieu of an advisory committee and schedule the remaining three City Council Public Hearings.
Potential dates for remaining Public Hearings:
August 2, 2021 (2nd pre-draft hearing)
February 7, 2022 (1st post-draft hearing)
March 7, 2022 (2nd post-draft hearing)
Staff driven community workshop
• Saturday, January 22, 2022
o Hold one meeting in the morning and one in the afternoon in two different locations.
IMPACT ON CITY RESOURCES
As provided for in the 2021-2022 budget.
ATTACHMENTS
1. Presentation