Introduction to Districting
March 14, 2023
A 3-Phase Process
1. Adopt an initial 5-district map
o Removes threat of litigation under the
California Voting Rights Act
2. Decide on potential Charter
amendments needed on March 2024
ballot
3. Implement final approach for
November 2024 Council election
The Phase 1 Districting Process
Districting Rules & Goals
• Equal Population
• Federal Voting Rights Act
• No Racial Gerrymandering
• Respect voters’ choices / avoid
unnecessary pairing of
incumbents
• Future population growth
1. Federal Laws 2. California Criteria for Cities
(in priority order)
1. Geographically contiguous
2. Minimize division of neighborhoods and
“communities of interest”
(Socio-economic geographic areas that
should be kept together)
3. Easily identifiable boundaries
4. Compact
(Do not bypass one group of people to get
to a more distant group of people)
Prohibited:
“Shall not favor or discriminate against a
political party.”
3. Other Traditional
Redistricting Principles
Demographic
Summary
Category Field Total Category Field Total
2020 Census Total Population 107,550 age0-19 21%
Hispanic/Latino 24% age20-60 58%
NH White 56% age60plus 22%
NH Black 3% immigrants 29%
NH Asian/Pac.Isl. 15% naturalized 70%
NH Native Amer. 1% english 60%
Total 74,965 spanish 14%
Hisp 21% asian-lang 8%
NH White 62% other lang 19%
NH Black 4% Language Fluency
Speaks Eng.
"Less than Very
Well"
14%
Asian/Pac.Isl. 12% hs-grad 49%
Native Amer. 1% bachelor 30%
Total 72,669 graduatedegree 14%
Latino est. 21% Child in Household child-under18 25%
Spanish-Surnamed 19% Pct of Pop. Age 16+ employed 67%
Asian-Surnamed 4% income 0-25k 18%
Filipino-Surnamed 2% income 25-50k 14%
NH White est. 70% income 50-75k 14%
NH Black 4% income 75-200k 40%
Total 57,953 income 200k-plus 14%
Latino est. 20% single family 50%
Spanish-Surnamed 19% multi-family 50%
Asian-Surnamed 4% rented 57%
Filipino-Surnamed 2% owned 43%
NH White est. 70%
NH Black 3%
Total 39,623
Latino est. 19%
Spanish-Surnamed 18%
Asian-Surnamed 4%
Filipino-Surnamed 2%
NH White est. 72%
NH Black est. 3%
Voter Turnout
(Nov 2018)
Household Income
Education (among
those age 25+)
Immigration
Language spoken at
home
Total population data from California's adjusted
2020 Census data. Citizen Voting Age
Population, Age, Immigration, and other
demographics from the 2017-2021 American
Community Survey and 2016-2020 Special
Tabulation 5-year data. Turnout and
Registration data from California Statewide
Database. "Latino" figures calculated by NDC
using Census Bureau's Latino undercount by
surname estimate.
Total Pop.
Citizen Voting Age
Pop
Housing Stats
Voter Registration
(Nov 2020)
Voter Turnout
(Nov 2020)
Age
Each district must contain
about the same number of
people.
For a five-district
map, that number is 21,510
people.
Latino CVAP
Latinos are somewhat more
concentrated around the
airport and between Victory
and along the freeway
corridors.
Asian-American CVAP
Asian-Americans are not
geographically concentrated in any
specific part of the City.
African-American CVAP
African-Americans are not
geographically concentrated
in any specific part of the
District.
Other Socio-Economic Demographics
Child at home
Spanish Spoken at Home
Household income over
$75,000 / yr.
Renters
Multi-Family Housing (Apartments or
Condos)
Defining Neighborhoods
1st Question: What is your neighborhood?
2nd Question: What are its geographic boundaries?
Examples of physical features defining a
neighborhood boundary:
o Natural neighborhood dividing lines, such as
highway or major roads, rivers, canals and/or hills
o Areas around parks or schools
o Other neighborhood landmarks
In the absence of public testimony, planning records
and other similar documents may provide definition.
Beyond Neighborhoods:
Defining Communities of Interest
1st Question: What defines your community?
o Geographic Area, plus
o Shared issue or characteristic
• Shared social or economic interest
• Impacted by city policies
o Tell us “your community’s story”
2nd Question: Would this community benefit from being
“included within a single district for purposes of its
effective and fair representation”?
o Or would it benefit more from having multiple
representatives?
Definitions of Communities of Interest may not include
relationships with political parties, incumbents, or political candidates.
Public Outreach & Engagement
o Targeted outreach to reach historically underrepresented community members
o All materials translated into Armenian and Spanish
o Pop-up events at culturally relevant events to raise project awareness o Partnerships with community-based organizations
o Robust outreach notification
o Print and digital media: newspapers, newsletters, radio o Bus shelter ads
o Banners in parks
o Door hangers distributed to households
o Opt-in campaign and regular email updates
o Social media
o Extended outreach toolkits for CBOs and other outreach partners to easily use approved graphics and text to expand outreach
o Trilingual automated helpline
Public Mapping & Map Review Tools
o Different tools for different purposes
o Different tools for different levels of
technical skill and interest
• Simple “review draft maps” tool
• Paper-based simple “Draw a draft map”
tools
• Powerful, data-rich “Draw a draft map”
online tool
Whether you use the online mapping tool, the paper kit, or just draw on a napkin, we welcome your maps!
A
Draw Your Neighborhood Tool
Draw Your
Neighborhood or
Community of Interest
o User-friendly online
mapping tool
o Familiar Google
maps base layer
already populates
familiar landmarks
and businesses
o Users can attach a
written comment
and image to their
neighborhood
Simple Map Drawing Tool
Paper “Public
Participation Kit”
o For those without
internet access or
who prefer paper
o Total Population
Counts only – no
demographic
details
DRA (Dave’s Redistricting App)
Draw a District Map
o Easy-to-use online
mapping tool
o Full demographic
and geographic
database
o Email a link to your
map to the City and
publish or share
Public Hearing & Discussion
o What is your neighborhood or community of interest? What ties it together, and what are its boundaries?
o What other notable areas are in the City, and what are their boundaries? o Any questions about the mapping tools?