Report to Mayor and City Council
Tuesday, May 21, 2019
Special Orders of the Day
SUBJECT:
Title
PUBLIC HEARING NO. 1 RELATED TO CHANGING FROM AN AT-LARGE TO A BY-DISTRICT SYSTEM FOR ELECTION OF CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS, PURSUANT TO THE CALIFORNIA VOTING RIGHTS ACT (CITY COUNCIL)
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I. SUMMARY
Legal action against the City under the California Voting Rights Act (CVRA) has been threatened, if the City does not begin the process of transitioning from at-large to district-based elections.
Government Code section 34886 allows the City to, by ordinance, change from at-large elections for the City Council to district-based elections. The City could establish four districts for election of members of the City Council, with the Mayor continuing to be elected at-large by all the voters in the City.
At the May 7, 2019 Council meeting, the City Council established the dates for the first public hearings: May 21 (as part of the City Council meeting), June 13 (at the Community Center), and June 18 (as part of the City Council meeting). The third public hearing is an "extra" public hearing prior to draft maps being published, and does not constitute the third public hearing under CVRA.
The Elections Code lays out several requirements, including at least four public hearings, which the City must satisfy prior to adopting an ordinance formally transitioning to district-based elections. If an ordinance is adopted to switch the City to district elections, a similar Charter amendment will also need to be approved by the City's voters before the City can switch to district elections.
A first step in moving the City to district-based elections is consultation with a demographer to assist the City with establishing both the data necessary to complete the process as well as a timetable for meeting state and federal requirements for the transition. The City has selected Compass Demographics, Inc. to assist with this process. The principal of the firm, David Ely, will make a presen...
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