Fremont City Council Meeting: 02/15/22 07:00 PM
3300 Capitol Avenue Div/Dept: City Manager's Office
Fremont, CA 94538 Category: Plans, Policies and Studies
SCHEDULED
Sponsors:
STAFF REPORT (ID # 4540) DOC ID: 4540
Updated: 2/10/2022 9:03 AM by Susan Gauthier Page 1
CITY OF FREMONT REDISTRICTING PROCESS PUBLIC HEARING - Third Public Hearing on City of Fremont Redistricting Process, Start time - 7:15pm Contact Persons:
Name: Amanda Gallo
Title: Management Analyst II
Div/Dept: City Manager's Office
Phone: 510-284-4016
E-Mail: [email protected]
Executive Summary: The Public Hearing scheduled for February 15, 2022, represents the third in a series of four public hearings required under the California Elections Code Section 21600 et seq. as part of the redistricting process undertaken following each decennial federal Census.
The purpose of this public hearing is to (1) receive and file a report on the public input received by the City of Fremont by February 6, 2022, regarding communities of interest and district boundaries, (2) conduct a public hearing to receive additional public input on communities of interest and district boundaries, and (3) identify at least one but no more than three priority maps to be reviewed at the fourth public hearing. The redistricting process must be completed by April 17, 2022.
BACKGROUND: In 2017, the City began the transition from at-large to district-based elections. The district-based maps were adopted on June 13, 2017 by the City Council with an ordinance approving six new Council districts and a phase-in schedule from 2018-2020.
The change from at-large to by-district elections requires the City to conduct a redistricting process every ten years.
Redistricting Public Hearing Recap
On July 13, 2021, the City of Fremont began its redistricting process. Council received an informational presentation of the redistricting process by the City’s demographic consultant, National Demographics Corporation (NDC).
The first public hearing was held on September 21, 2021, where the City Council received a presentation from NDC on the requirements under the federal Voting Rights Act and the California Voting Rights Act (CVRA), and information on the mapping tools available to the public for participation in the redistricting mapping process. Two members of the public provided public testimony at the first public hearing.
The second public hearing was held on December 7, 2021, which recapped the redistricting requirements and criteria, reviewed Fremont’s 2020 Census results, and the Cit y Council received and filed a report on the public input received by the City of Fremont by November 22, 2021 regarding communities of interest and district boundaries. This report included responses to the City’s Redistricting Survey, public comments submitted via the City’s redistricting email address, and draft maps submitted by the public. The City Staff Report (ID # 4540) Meeting of February 15, 2022
Updated: 2/10/2022 9:03 AM by Susan Gauthier Page 2
received 33 responses to its redistricting survey, three email public comments, and seven draft maps.
NDC also presented a Minimal Change Map to the City Council based on the public comments received by the City. From the review of NDC’s map and maps submitted by the public, staff received input and direction from the City Council on parameters to consider for potential maps to be produced by NDC to be reviewed at the third public hearing. Maps produced by NDC will be in addition to maps provided by residents.
DISCUSSION/ANALYSIS: Under the redistricting process, districts must be redrawn using 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.
The Fair Maps Act requires that “council districts shall be substantially equal in population as required by the United States Constitution.” (Elections Code Section 21601(a)). A total deviation of 10% or below is the recommended target for proposed local government district maps to maintain legal compliance with federal and state law. After processing the City’s current district map with 2020 Census data, NDC found that it reflects a total population deviation of 10.62%. This value is above the 10% threshold and thus requires redrawing of the district map to comply with balanced populations across districts.
Additionally, under the Act, Council shall draw and adopt boundaries using the following criteria in the listed order of priority (Elections Code Section 21601(c)):
1. Comply with the 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
A community of interest is “a population that shares common social or economic interests that should be included within a single district for purposes of its effective and fair representation.” (Elections Code Section 21601(c))
Once the prioritized criteria are met, other traditional districting principles can be considered, such as:
1. Minimize the number of voters delayed from voting in 2022 to 2024
2. Respect voters’ choices / continuity in office
3. Future population growth
The purpose of Public Hearing #3 is to receive and file public input regarding communities of interest and district boundaries that was received by the City by February 6, 2022, conduct a public hearing to receive additional public input, and to identify at least one but no more than three priority maps to be reviewed at the fourth public hearing.
City Staff is revising the Fremont City Council redistricting public hearing schedule by moving the fourth public hearing from April 5 th to March 1st at 7:15pm. This timeline further ensures that the City Council will have adequate time to deliberate, discuss, and adopt a Staff Report (ID # 4540) Meeting of February 15, 2022
Updated: 2/10/2022 9:03 AM by Susan Gauthier Page 3
map prior to the April 17th redistricting deadline. The City has updated its redistricting website and will be conducting additional public outreach to announce the schedule change.
Public Outreach
An important requirement of the redistricting process is extensive public outreach.
Information regarding public hearings has been posted in TriCity Voice (English), WorldJournal SF (Chinese), La Opinon de Bahia (Spanish), Vietnam Daily News (Vietnamese), and India Post (English, Punjabi, Hindi). Additionally, public hearing documents have been translated into eight languages and are posted on the City’s redistricting website, www.redistrictfremont.org. Redistricting information has also been included in the City’s weekly online newsletter, The Fremont Connection, Channel 27, and numerous informational posts have been shared on the City’s social media platforms. Staff has also conducted outreach and presentations to Fremont community-based organizations.
On October 28, 2021, the City launched an online survey to receive input from the public regarding their communities of interest and current district boundary lines. The survey closed January 30, 2022 and received 34 responses.
Proposed Maps for Review
NDC has developed three proposed maps for review, based on direction provided from Council and public input at the second public hearing. The proposed maps drawn by NDC are attached to this report.
The City of Fremont also received ten maps from the public. Six of the maps drawn by the public meet the basic criteria of redistricting, while four do not. The maps submitted by the public that meet the basic criteria are attached to this report. All submitted maps can be found on the City’s redistricting website, www.redistrictfremont.org.
FISCAL IMPACT: None.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW: None.
ATTACHMENTS:
• Purple Map Drawn by NDC
• Green Map Drawn by NDC
• Minimal Change Map Drawn by NDC
• Public Comment Submitted by February 6, 2022
• Public Maps Submitted that meet Basic Criteria by 2.6.22
RECOMMENDATIONS:
1. Receive and file a report on the public input received by the City of Fremont by February 6, 2022, regarding communities of interest and district boundaries.
2. Review and discuss public input received by the City of Fremont by February 6, 2022, regarding communities of interest and district boundaries.
3. Conduct a public hearing to receive additional public input on communities of interest and district boundaries.
4. Identify at least one but not more than three priority maps to be reviewed at the fourth Redistricting Public Hearing to be held March 1, 2022.