1 STAFF REPORT
DATE: April 11, 2023
TO: Justin Hess, City Manager
FROM: Joseph H. McDougall, City Attorney
BY: Jill Vander Borght, Senior Assistant City Attorney
SUBJECT: Second Public Hearing Regarding the Composition of Districts for the City’s Transition to District-Based City Council Elections
RECOMMENDATION
Note and file.
BACKGROUND
On August 23, 2022, the City received a notice of a potential violation of the California Voting Rights Act (CVRA) on behalf of a Latino voter in the City of Burbank, Mr. Nick Gutierrez. (Elec. Code §§14027- 14032.) On January 24, 2023, Council adopted a Resolution of Intent to Initiate a Transition to District Elections, which triggered a 90-day safe harbor period from litigation. The Council also authorized staff in paragraph 3 of the Resolution to retain National Demographics Corporation (NDC), proven expert demographers serving local governments in California in successful districting, to guide the process.
In consultation with NDC, staff developed a robust timeline of workshops and public hearings for the districting process. The schedule includes a total of five public hearings as well as eight community meetings scheduled over the next four months. During the first public hearing on March 14, 2023, Council approved the Phase 1 Districting Process Schedule (Attachment 1). T hree community forums were hosted on March 30, April 6 , and April 8 with five additional forums scheduled. These public forums give constituents multiple opportunities to provide input on the districting process.
This second public hearing on April 11, 2023, is designed to largely mirror the first to provide the same information to people who may have engaged in the process after the CITY ATTORNEY’S
OFFICE
2 first public hearing and must be held prior to the consideration of any proposed district maps (Elections Code § 10010(a)(1)). Information and updates on the districting process, community forums, public hearings, and more is available on the City’s districting website at www.burbankcouncildistricting.com.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
This activity involves organizational and administrative activities of the government related to election procedures and eligibility requirements, and such internal procedural and eligibility changes have no potential for resulting in either a direct physical change in the environment, or a reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment. As such, this action is not a “project” subject to the requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) 14 Cal. Code Regs § 15378.
FISCAL IMPACT
None.
CONCLUSION
The second public hearing is scheduled in accordance with state law and the Council - approved schedule.
ATTACHMENT
Attachment 1 – Phase 1 Amended Districting Process Schedule Correspondences