To: Honorable Mayor and Members of City Council
From: Tiffany Carranza, City Clerk
Prepared By: Caitlin Saldanha, Deputy City Clerk
TITLE:
Title
Transition to District-Based Elections for Councilmembers
LABEL
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Recommendation
Receive a presentation from the City's consulting demographer regarding the process and criteria for establishing district boundaries for District-Based Elections for City Councilmembers; and hold the first of two public hearings without maps of proposed district boundaries to receive public input regarding the boundaries and composition of districts.
Body
DISCUSSION:
On February 11, 2020, the City Council adopted Resolution R2020-017 declaring its intent to transition from at-large elections to district-based elections of Councilmembers, outlining specific steps to facilitate the transition (including public outreach to solicit public input, and public hearings) and estimating a timeframe for the transition. This transition would be implemented for the November 3, 2020 general municipal election.
Pursuant to Elections Code Section 10010, the City is required to hold at least two public hearings over a period of no more than 30 days before any map or maps of the boundaries for the proposed voting districts are drawn. At these public hearings, the community is invited to provide input regarding boundaries and district composition.
Before developing draft district boundaries, the City's demographer (Paul Mitchell, of Redistricting Partners) will provide a presentation of the legal parameters which must be considered when preparing district boundaries. The City Council will then receive comments from the public at the two public hearings to understand the public's view of appropriate district boundaries, based on the required legal parameters. At the end of the second public hearing, the City Council will provide direction to City staff and the City's demographer regarding the criteria will be used, consisten...
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