Report to Mayor and City Council
Tuesday, October 01, 2019
Special Orders of the Day
SUBJECT:
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CONTINUED PUBLIC HEARING (PUBLIC HEARING NO. 7) 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: CONSIDERATION OF DEMOGRAPHER'S RECOMMENDED MAPS, CONSIDERATION OF ADDITIONAL MAPS CREATED PURSUANT TO COUNCIL DIRECTION FROM SEPTEMBER 17, AND REVIEW OF POTENTIAL ELECTION SEQUENCING (CITY COUNCIL)
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I. SUMMARY
This public hearing is a continuation of the September 17 public hearing, and the recommendation will be to continue the public hearing after discussion to October 15 to be able to consider additional maps created by the second demographer, NDC, and any additional maps created by the public using the enhanced Public Participation Kit created by NDC.
Tonight, the City Council may consider four additional maps created by the original demographer, Compass Demographics, based on input received by City Council on September 17 and subsequently: (1) a revision by the demographer of Draft 1 (Map 1T) that simplifies the district boundaries in a manner similar to that proposed by Mayor Robles, but creates a "balanced" district; (2) a map made from input received by Mayor Robles from the dais on September 17; and (3) two maps submitted to the demographer by Mayor Pro Tem Hicks after the September 17 meeting, referred to as Submission 009 and Submission 010.
In addition, this staff report memorializes the discussion initiated by Councilmember Dear when he asked what the latest possible date for adoption of the Council Districting Ordinance would still allow for District elections in November, 2020.
Background
On May 22, 2018, the City received a letter from Shenkman and Hughes, PC, demanding that the City Council elections transition from the current "at-large" method to "by-district" in order to conform to the California Voting Rights Act (CVRA) of 2001. Shenkman ...
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