Report to Mayor and City Council
Tuesday, February 15, 2022
Special Orders of the Day
SUBJECT:
Title
PUBLIC HEARING TO CONSIDER THE REDISTRICTING OF ESTABLISHED CITY COUNCIL DISTRICTS BASED ON THE RESULTS OF THE 2020 DECENNIAL CENSUS ON REDISTRICTING, AND REVIEW OF DRAFT MAP #5 AND DRAFT MAP #6
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I. SUMMARY
In 2020, the City of Carson adopted City Council districts for the four City Council seats, with the Mayor’s seat remaining at large. Every ten years, districts must be redrawn so that each district is substantially equal in population. This process, called redistricting, is important in ensuring that each city councilmember represents about the same number of constituents. In the City of Carson, the Mayor and City Council are responsible for drawing council districts. Redistricting is done using U.S. Census data, which was released in September 2021. For the City of Carson, the redistricting process must be completed by April 17, 2022.
The City was required to hold two public meetings on the districts during the initial process prior to the publication of any draft redistricting maps being produced. A formal public hearing was held on November 16, 2021 followed by a less-formal public workshop on December 4, 2021 at the Community Center. The City Council held a noticed Public Hearing on January 18 to consider Draft Maps #1 and #2 (Exhibit 2) and discussed Maps #3 and #4 (Exhibit 3) at a regularly scheduled City Council meeting on February 1, 2022. This Public Hearing will be for the purpose of discussing additional maps produced at the Council’s direction, Maps #5 and #6. (Exhibit 1)
All the draft maps were published on the City’s redistricting website at least one week prior to their consideration by the City Council: Maps #1 and #2 on January 10, 2022; Maps #3 and #4 on January 24, and Maps #5 and #6 on February 7.
In addition, the City is conducting a series of public informational meetings in the parks and virtually via Zoom because of the City’s COVID-19 protocols.
II. RECOMMENDATION
Recommendation
1. OPEN the Public Hearing.
2. RECEIVE testimony from the Public on Draft Map #5 and Draft Map #6.
3. CLOSE the Public Hearing.
4. PROVIDE direction to Staff and the Demographer on Draft Map #5 and Draft Map #6.
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III. ALTERNATIVES
TAKE another action the City Council deems appropriate.
IV. BACKGROUND
In 2020, the City of Carson adopted City Council districts for the four City Council seats, with the Mayor’s seat remaining at large. The 2020 election was the first held under the Council district system, for Council Districts 1 and 3. The redistricting process is important to ensure that each city councilmember represents about the same number of constituents.
2020 Census Data
Redistricting is done using U.S. Census data, which was released in September 2021. The 2010 US Census recorded Carson’s population at 91,714; the official 2020 Census data puts the population at 95,994, an increase of about 4,000 residents for more than 4% growth over the past decade.
The review of the data shows that the population increase did not result in any of the districts adopted in 2020 becoming “unbalanced” under the California Voting Rights Act or applicable constitutional requirements. The current district map could therefore be considered for adoption as well. It was adopted with a population “deviation” of 7.8% (i.e., the difference in size between the largest district by population and the smallest) but with population growth in certain districts between 2010 (the Census used for adoption of the map) and 2020 (the current census) the deviation declined to 1.6% making it more balanced than when first adopted. While there may be other reasons the City Council or the community wish to change the boundaries of the current districts, there is not a demographic necessity to do so.
Redistricting Calendar
Under State law, at least two public meetings must be conducted prior to the publication of any draft maps, and the first public hearing to consider such maps must be conducted at least seven days after the publication of the maps.
Section 21627.1 of the Elections Code requires that (a) Before adopting a final map, the council shall hold at least four public hearings at which the public is invited to provide input regarding the composition of one or more council districts:
(1) At least one public hearing shall be held before the council draws a draft map or maps of the proposed council boundaries. That public hearing was held on November 16, 2021. In addition, a public workshop was held at the Community Center on December 4, 2021.
(2) At least two public hearings shall be held after the council has drawn a draft map or maps of the proposed council boundaries. The first public hearing was held on January 18, 2022, and this is the second noticed public hearing. Council also considered maps #3 and #4 at a regular City Council meeting on February 1. A third post-publication Public Hearing will be held on March 1 or March 15, when the ordinance adopting a new map (or retaining the current map) will be introduced.
(3) The first two draft maps were published on January 10, 2022, the second two were published on January 24; and the two most recent maps were published on February 7.
Draft Maps
All six of the draft maps are designed to make all the Council districts more compact and to make better use of accepted community boundaries such as the 405 Freeway. The most significant impacts are to Districts 3 and 4; in most of the maps District 4 is generally now entirely south of the 405 Freeway and District 3 is almost entirely north of the 405 Freeway. Smaller changes to Districts 1 and 2 were made to accommodate those major changes.
The additional maps created as a result of City Council feedback on February 1 have made further changes to Districts 1 and 2, both in terms on north-south boundaries (percentage of the district above- and below the 405 Freeway) and in the east-west direction, especially in the area north of the 405 Freeway. These two districts experienced the greatest population growth during the 2010-2020 period and are poised to experience most of the City’s population growth over the next decade as they are where the highest-density residential land is located. Such growth will change the balance of the districts over time and will need to be considered in 2030 when the City undertakes redistricting again.
Maps #3 and #4 were created because on January 18 the Council asked the demographer to create maps with a lower deviation than Maps #1 (at 5.4%) and #2 (at 6.0%). Maps #3 and #4 were lower. The most recent maps were requested for another look at the boundaries between Districts 1 and 3, Districts 1 and 2, Districts 1 and 4 and Districts 2 and 4. A significant amount of the variation between maps is in the area bounded by the 405 Freeway on the north, 223rd Street on the south, Bonita Street on the east and Main Street on the west.
Other Activities
The City Council directed staff to develop a schedule of community outreach workshops where the redistricting proposals, including any draft maps, could be considered by members of the public. Staff conducted two in-person public workshops on the redistricting process on January 10 and January 11, at Hemingway Park and at Dolphin Park. After those workshops, the City implemented tighter protocols for public events; as a result subsequent workshops moved to virtual meetings via Zoom and were broadcast on the City’s public access television channels. The January 19 workshop was intended for Veteran’s Park and the January 25 workshop would have been at Stevenson Park; the City used the Walking Man delivery service to deliver notices to the residents around each of the parks for the virtual meetings.
More recently, virtual workshops were conducted for the Calas Park and Foisia Park neighborhoods on February 8 and February 9. Future workshops (February 16 and February 22) will be held on behalf of the Anderson Park and Carson Park neighborhoods, with a similar virtual arrangement on Zoom.
Finally, the City Council has requested at least one more workshop to be held in each district in an in-person or “hybrid” format blending an in-person presentation by staff and the demographer with Zoom and television access as well. These workshops are being scheduled for the second half of February and are likely to be on the weekends, based on the availability of the demographer.
The public hearing notice for this meeting and all the public hearings was provided in applicable languages (e.g., Spanish and Tagalog) and other materials are translated as well. The City has notified the public about redistricting public workshops and public input hearings, posted the draft maps online, and created a dedicated web page for all relevant information about the redistricting process.
Section 21608 requires the City to establish and maintain for at least 10 years after the adoption of new council district boundaries an internet web page dedicated to redistricting. All materials related to redistricting are loaded onto it. The link to the site is <https://carsonca.gov/redistricting>. The web page is hosted on the city’s website. The web page includes, or links to, all the following information:
(1) A general explanation of the redistricting process for the city in English and any applicable language.
(2) The procedures for a member of the public to testify during a public hearing or to submit written testimony directly to the council in English and any applicable language.
(3) A calendar of all public hearing and workshop dates. A calendar listing that includes the time and location of the public hearing or workshop satisfies the notice required by subdivision (c).
(4) The notice and agenda for each public hearing and workshop.
(5) The recording or written summary of each public hearing and workshop.
(6) Each draft map considered by the council at a public hearing.
(7) The adopted final map of council district boundaries.
V. FISCAL IMPACT
Aside from the Demographer contract, which is proposed to be amended by separate action to accommodate additional in-person workshops, there is not a fiscal impact from the adoption of a new district map.
VI. EXHIBITS
1. City of Carson Draft City Council District Maps #5 and #6, prepared by Bear Demographics (pgs. 6-44)
2. City of Carson Draft City Council District Maps #1 and #2, prepared by Bear Demographics (pgs. 45-85)
3. City of Carson Draft City Council District Maps #3 and #4, prepared by Bear Demographics (pgs. 86-124)
Prepared by: John S. Raymond, Assistant City Manager