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Report regarding a public hearing to receive input from the community regarding the redrawing of election district boundaries and approving redistricting schedule. (Rosa Govea Acosta, City Clerk and Kristen Parks, National Demographics Corporation)
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RECOMMENDATION
Recommendation
It is recommended that the City Council: 1) receive a report on the redistricting process and permissible criteria to be considered to redraw district boundaries; 2) conduct a public hearing to receive public input on district boundaries; and 3) approve redistricting schedule.
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BACKGROUND/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 for the City of South San Francisco must be completed by April 17, 2022.
The city adopted its current district boundaries on July 11, 2018 based on 2010 census data as required by law. The districts must now be redrawn using the 2020 census data and 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 must draw and adopt boundaries using the following criteria in the listed order of priority (Elec. Code ?21601) for general law cities:
1. Comply with federal requirements of equal population and the Voting Rights Act
2. Geographically contiguous
3. Undivided neighborhoods and "communities of interest"
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
By law, the city must hold at least four public hearings, at an affixed time, to inform the public about the process and solicit community member input before adopting...
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