____________________________________________________________________________________
FOR CITY CLERK ONLY
File No.: _______________________________
Council Meeting: _______________________
Disposition: ___________________________
Agenda Item No: 6.a
Meeting Date: February 22, 2022
SAN RAFAEL CITY COUNCIL AGENDA REPORT
Department: CITY ATTORNEY
Prepared by: Lisa Goldfien,
Assistant City Attorney
City Manager Approval: ______________
TOPIC: 2021-2022 CITY COUNCIL REDISTRICTING PROCESS
SUBJECT: THIRD PUBLIC HEARING ON EXISTING COUNCIL DISTRICT LINES AND POSSIBLE
CHANGES
RECOMMENDATION:
Receive a presentation by the City’s demographic consultant regarding proposed draft maps adjusting the four City Council electoral districts in light of the 2020 Census, hold a public hearing to receive public comment concerning the draft maps, and then provide any direction to the demographic consultant regarding revisions to the maps for consideration at the final public hearing scheduled for March 21.
BACKGROUND:
On April 16, 2018, the City Council adopted Ordinance No. 1956, approving the move from at-large voting to “by-district” voting for council elections, in which each member of the Council must reside in a district and is elected only by the voters within that district, and approving the district map designated as “Canal 3B.” The City’s first general municipal election using the new City Council districts was held on November 3, 2020, for the City Council seats in District Districts 1/South and 4/North. The first elections in Districts 2/West and 3/East will be held on November 8, 2022.
Even though the City created its four electoral districts only three years ago, Elections Code § 21621 requires that the redistricting process occur again following each federal decennial census to rebalance the districts’ populations in light of the most recent data available. The most recent decennial census was conducted in 2020, and the Bureau released its “PL94-171” redistricting data on August 12, 2021.
However, under changes to California law adopted in 2019, known as the FAIR MAPS Act, the City is required to use data from the California Statewide Database at UC Berkeley (“SWDB”), which “adjust the Census Bureau’s data to account for legislatively-required reallocation of incarcerated felons within the State. (See Elec. Code § 21621(a)(2).) Those adjusted data were released on September 21, 2021, and a corrected version of the data was released on September 27, 2021.
SAN RAFAEL CITY COUNCIL AGENDA REPORT / Page: 2
At its meeting on July 19, 2021, the Council received a presentation regarding the redistricting process from the City’s special counsel, Chris Skinnell of Nielsen Merksamer Parrinello Gross & Leoni, after which the Council approved the timeline for the redistricting process. At its September 13 meeting, the Council received a further presentation from Mr. Skinnell summarizing the legal rules governing the readjustment of district lines and the preliminary demographics of the existing districts based on the PL94-171 data. At its meeting on November 15, 2021, the Council received updated information regarding the final “adjusted” demographics of the existing districts based on the SWDB data, after which the Council conducted a duly-noticed public hearing to receive public testimony regarding the composition of the districts, especially communities of interest. At its meeting on January 18, 2022, the Council conducted another duly-noticed public hearing to receive public testimony regarding the composition of the districts, especially communities of interest.
Pursuant to the FAIR MAPS Act, the Council is required to conduct four public hearings, the first two of which focused on receiving feedback from the Council and the public regarding the current lines, and desired changes, and the City’s communities of interest, and the last two of which are to focus on actual draft maps to readjust the Council districts.
This is the third of the four required public hearings and the first of the post-mapping public hearings. The final public hearing is scheduled for March 21, 2022. The statutory deadline for completion of the redistricting process is April 17, 2022.
ANALYSIS:
At the meeting, the City’s demographic consultant, Ms. Kristen Parks of National Demographics Corporation (“NDC”), will present proposed draft maps to readjust the Council district boundaries, and the Council will again be asked to conduct a public hearing to receive feedback from the public regarding the draft maps.
The following is a summary of the main substantive legal requirements for the redistricting process:
1) The districts must be “substantially equal” in population as defined by the Supreme Court. 2) The districts must comply with the federal Voting Rights Act of 1965 (52 U.S.C. Sec. 10301 et seq.)
3) The districts must comply with constitutional restrictions on “racial gerrymandering.” 4) Subject to the constitutional and federal law requirements noted in paragraphs (1) – (3), voting districts must be established according to four statutory criteria, ranked in order of priority:
• To the extent practicable, council districts shall be geographically contiguous.
Areas that meet only at the points of adjoining corners are not contiguous.
Areas that are separated by water and not connected by a bridge, tunnel, or regular ferry service are not contiguous.
• To the extent practicable, the geographic integrity of any local neighborhood or local community of interest shall be respected in a manner that minimizes its division. 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. Communities of interest do not include relationships with political parties, incumbents, or political candidates.
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• Council district boundaries should be easily identifiable and understandable by residents. To the extent practicable, council districts shall be bounded by natural and artificial barriers, by streets, or by the boundaries of the city. • To the extent practicable, and where it does not conflict with the preceding criteria in this subdivision, council districts shall be drawn to encourage geographical compactness in a manner that nearby areas of population are not bypassed in favor of more distant populations.
As discussed at the last meeting, the current district lines comply with the first three criteria above, and they are contiguous, so if the Council believes they adequately respect communities of interest retention of the current lines would be an option.
NDC has also prepared a second option for the Council to consider in light of the discussion at the January 2022 meeting. That option, labeled the “NDC Minimal Change Map” begins with the current lines but makes discrete changes to reduce the population imbalance (to 5.55% compared to 8.53% under the current map).
Online versions of the maps that would allow a viewer to zoom in down to the street level are available on the City’s redistricting website, under the “Draft Maps” tab. To date, no proposed maps have been submitted to the City by the public.
COMMUNITY OUTREACH:
As staff advised the Council at the September, November and January meetings, the City has established a City redistricting website with all pertinent documents in both English and Spanish. It can be found at https://redistrictsanrafael.org/. By visiting that website, members of the public can also submit proposed district maps for the Council’s consideration, using either a paper mapping kit or online mapping tools.
Staff is also conducting additional outreach to interested community groups, media organizations, and other interested parties.
FISCAL IMPACT:
There is no fiscal impact from the recommended City Council action. Completion of the redistricting process will incur expenses of approximately $50,000 in consulting attorney’s fees and $60,000 in consulting demographer’s fees (including the online mapping tool), in addition to regular staff time.
Sufficient funds have been included in the budget to cover these expenses.
OPTIONS:
The City Council has the following options to consider on this matter:
1. Accept the information report on the proposed draft maps, conduct the third public hearing, and provide any guidance to the demographers re possible revisions to the draft maps if any are desired.
2. Take no action.
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Move to accept the informational report regarding the City Council redistricting process, conduct the public hearing, and provide guidance to the demographer.
ATTACHMENTS:
1. PowerPoint Presentation
February 22, 2022
Redistricting Public Hearing #3
National Demographics Corporation
City of San Rafael
February 22, 2022 2
San Rafael’s Transition to Districts
Date Event
November 10, 2017 City received letter alleging
violation of the California
Voting Rights Act (CVRA)
Districting January 16, 2018 Council passed resolution to change to district elections
April 16, 2018 Council adopted district map
November 3, 2020 Elections for Districts 1 & 4
2021 - 2022 Districts must be redrawn to
reflect 2020 Census data Redistricting
February 22, 2022 3
Redistricting Timeline
Date Event
August 12, 2021 Release of 2020 Census data
September 27, 2021 Release of California’s official redistricting data November 15, 2021 Public Hearing #1
January 18, 2022 Public Hearing #2
February 22, 2022 Public Hearing #3
March 21, 2022 Public Hearing #4
April 17, 2022 Legal deadline for Council to adopt redistricting plan November 8, 2022 First election with new map
February 22, 2022 4
Legal Criteria for Redistricting
1. Ensure geographic
contiguity
2. Minimize division
of neighborhoods
& “communities
of interest”
3. Create easily
identifiable
boundaries
4. Maintain
compactness
Do not “favor or
discriminate against
a political party”
Ensure equal
population*
Comply with
federal Voting
Rights Act
Avoid racial
gerrymandering
California Law Traditional Criteria
May include:
• Preserve core
of existing
districts
• Minimize
changes to
election cycles
Federal Law
Do not bypass a
nearby population
to take in a more
distant population
* Total population
deviation < 10%
Current District
Map (2018)
6 Current Districts Are Pop. Balanced
District 1 2 3 4 Total
2020 2020 Census (Adjusted) 14,853 15,732 14,720 16,028 61,333 Deviation from ideal -480 399 -613 695 1,308
% Deviation -3.13% 2.60% -4.00% 4.53% 8.53%
2020 Total Pop
% Hisp 80% 21% 21% 18% 34%
% NH White 12% 65% 64% 64% 52%
% NH Black 1% 2% 2% 2% 2%
% Asian-American 5% 7% 9% 12% 8%
Citizen Voting
Age Pop
Total 4,296 10,843 10,421 10,843 36,403
% Hisp 42% 7% 10% 9% 12%
% NH White 41% 84% 76% 80% 75%
% NH Black 3% 3% 3% 1% 3%
% Asian/Pac.Isl. 13% 5% 9% 8% 8%
February 22, 2022 7
Calculating Population Deviation
Ideal district size = 15,333
Calculated by dividing the total population by the number of districts
61,333/4 = 15,333.25
Total deviation = 1,308
Calculated by subtracting the smallest district’s population from the largest district’s population
D4 (16,028) - D3 (14,720) = 1,308
Total deviation % = 8.53%
Calculated by subtracting the smallest district’s deviation from the largest district’s deviation
D4(4.53) – D3(-4.00) = 8.53%
February 22, 2022 8
Defining “Communities of Interest”
Under California Elections Code, “community of interest” has a specific definition in the context of redistricting:
Definitions of “communities of interest” do not include relationships with political parties, incumbents, or political candidates.
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.
9 Public Mapping Tools
San Rafael’s mapping tools
empower residents to draw
their communities of
interest, home district, or an
entire citywide district plan
10 NDC Minimal Change Map
Election Cycle:
2022: Districts 2 and 3
2024: Districts 1 and 4
February 22, 2022 11
Share Your Thoughts
Website: redistrictsanrafael.org