City Council Agenda Report
TO: Mayor McCord and Members of the City Council
FROM: Ken Irwin, City Manager
BY: Nubia Goldstein, City Attorney
MEETING DATE: February 1, 2022
ITEM NO: 7.1
SUBJECT: Hold a public hearing to receive public input on redrawing City Council district boundaries in response to data received in the 2020 census.
RECOMMENDATION
Hold a public hearing to receive public input on redrawing City Council district boundaries in response to data received in the 2020 census.
BACKGROUND
On May 3, 2016, the Patterson City Council adopted Ordinance No. 795, which established a bydistrict election process in four (4) City Council districts, with the Mayor being voted at large.
The City of Patterson (the “City”) is required under Elections Code section 21601, subdivision (a), to complete a redistricting process to reapportion its population between the four (4) City Council districts following each federal decennial census.
Each City Council district must comply with the Fair Maps Act (“Act”). Under the Act, the City Council must draw and adopt City Council district boundaries so that each City Council district shall be substantially equal in population as required by the United States Constitution. City Council districts must be drawn using the following criteria in the listed order of priority:
1) Geographically contiguous (each City Council district should share a common border with the next City Council district).
2) Minimize divisions of neighborhoods and “communities of interest” (socioeconomic 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).
City Council districts must comply with the United States Constitution, California Constitution, and the federal Voting Rights Act. Further, City Council districts cannot favor or discriminate against a political party.
Once the prioritized criteria are met, other traditional districting principles can be considered, such as:
· Respect voters’ choices/continuity in office.
· Use current City Council districts as a basis.
· Future population growth.
Timeline
The redistricting deadline is April 17, 2022. During the redistricting process, the City Council must hold at least four (4) public hearings. At least:
· One (1) public hearing must be before publication of the draft maps. · Two (2) public hearings after publication of the draft maps.
At least one (1) public hearing must be held on a Saturday or Sunday or after 6:00 p.m. on a weekday.
On November 8, 2021 and December 6, 2021, the City Council conducted the first and second public hearings, respectively, regarding redistricting to provide an overview of the redistricting process. The City Council also received public input regarding the composition and boundaries of City Council district boundaries.
ANALYSIS
This public hearing is the third of four (4) public hearings planned and will provide the City Council and the community time to review and comment on draft maps based on input from the public and the City Council at previous meetings.
The City’s redistricting consultant, NDC, has prepared draft maps which are posted on the City’s website dedicated to the redistricting process at: <https://redistrictpatterson.org/> and available at City Hall. Proposed maps from the public have also been posted to the website. These draft maps, and possible new or revised maps, will be considered by the City Council at this public hearing.
Below is the date of the final public hearing:
· March 1, 2022.
The City will adopt final maps at the March 1, 2022 public hearing.
FISCAL IMPACT
Funds for the redistricting process have been approved.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
A public hearing on the redistricting does not constitute a “project” under the California Environmental Quality Act. (Pub. Resources Code, § 21065.)
ATTACHMENTS
NDC redistricting presentation.