Agenda Item Wording:
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TIMED ITEM 7:30 PM - Public Hearing No. 5 and City Council District Decennial Redistricting Presentation and Map Review.
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Deadline for Action: 2/7/2022
Submitting Department: Administration
Contact Name and Phone Number: Allison M. Mackey, Communications Manager, 713-4535
Department Recommendation:
Receive presentation from Ken Chawkins, Consultant, National Demographics Corporation, on an overview of redistricting guidelines and review of draft maps, discuss the election sequence, and hold Public Hearing No. 5 to receive public input on the process and criteria for revising voter district boundaries for the City of Visalia Council as required by law following each Census.
Background Discussion:
The City of Visalia’s City Council District Decennial Redistricting continues, as the City must adopt boundaries for five Council districts that are generally equal in population based on new census data from the 2020 Census, and that comply with State and Federal election laws, including whether there is a legal requirement for one or more majority-minority districts.
Detailed demographic data is needed to develop legally appropriate district boundaries. The City does not have these skills in house, therefore, an experienced demographer, National Demographics Corporation (NDC), a professional consulting firm, has been retained and is performing the needed technical tasks to establish these new districts and provide information to the public to assist in the public submittal of proposed district boundaries.
Redistricting Process
The City’s Council District Decennial Redistricting process timeline has included:
• Public Hearing No. 1 on August 23, 2021, at 7 p.m. - Measure N Oversight Committee meeting, included education on process and was held to elicit input on the communities of interest and the redistricting process.
• Update to City Council on Redistricting Process on September 7, 2021, at 7 p.m.
• Public Hearing No. 2 on September 20, 2021, at 7 p.m. - Held during a City Council meeting, included update on the process and was held to elicit input on the communities of interest and the redistricting process.
• Census Data Release on September 12, 2021 - U.S. Census Bureau released official 2020 population data.
• Census Data Release on September 20, 2021 - California releases official “prisoner adjusted” 2020 data.
• Mapping Workshop #1 on October 13, 2021 at 6 p.m. - Held at the Whitendale Community Center, included presentation on redistricting process, discussed communities of interest and mapping tools.
• Release by NDC of City of Visalia Public Participation Kits on October 20, 2021 - These included paper maps with population count, population IDs and excel spreadsheets and were made available to community members for immediate download from the City website.
• Mapping Workshop #2 on October 23, 2021 at 10 a.m. - Held at the Anthony Community Center, included presentation on redistricting process, discussed communities of interest and mapping tools.
• Update to City Council on Redistricting Process on November 15, 2021 during the 7 p.m. Regular Session - Included update on the process and Council’s authorization to extend the redistricting process timeline.
• Public Hearing No. 3 on December 6, 2021 at 7:30 p.m. - Held during a City Council meeting, included update on the process and was held to elicit input on the communities of interest and the redistricting process.
• Drop-In Map Time on December 20, 2021 at 6 p.m. - Held in the City Hall West Lobby, City staff was on hand to demonstrate mapping tools and answer questions.
• Mapping Workshop #3 on January 3, 2022 at 6:30 p.m. - Held at the Visalia Emergency Communications Center, City staff provided information about the mapping tools and gave a demonstration of the digital tool Dave’s Redistricting.
• Drop-In Map Time on January 10, 2022 at 6 p.m. - Held in the City Hall West conference room, City staff was on hand to demonstrate mapping tools and answer questions.
• Public Hearing No. 4 on January 10, 2022 at 7:30 p.m. - Held during a special meeting of the City Council in the City Hall West City Council Chambers, this Hearing included a presentation from Ken Chawkins, Consultant, National Demographics Corporation, on an overview of redistricting guidelines and a first review of draft maps.
• Mapping Workshop #4 on Saturday, January 15, 2022 at 10 a.m. - Held in the City Hall West Council Chambers, City staff provided information about the mapping tools and gave a demonstration of the digital tool Dave’s Redistricting.
• Drop-In Map Time on January 18, 2022 at 6 p.m. - Held in the City Hall West conference room, City staff was on hand to demonstrate mapping tools and answer questions.
• Final Deadline to Submit Maps on Thursday, January 20, 2022 at 5 p.m. - No in-person meeting, final deadline was shared across City channels to notify public this was the final date to submit maps for the process.
This agenda item is part of Public Hearing No. 5. Tonight the City Council will look at the beneficial attributes of each map and may choose to focus on one or multiple maps, or they may give direction to NDC to revise any of the maps presented thus far for further review at the upcoming Public Hearing No. 6.
The City’s Council District Decennial Redistricting process timeline further includes:
• Public Hearing No. 6 on February 22, 2022 at 7:30 p.m. - To be held in the Council Chambers, City Hall West, 707 W. Acequia Ave. City Council will receive a presentation from consultants NDC, discuss and revise draft maps and discuss the election sequence.
The City Council may choose to adopt a final map at Public Hearing No. 6 on meeting on February 22, 2022, or at a following, to be determined, future public hearing.
The redistricting process for the City of Visalia must be completed by April 17, 2022.
Current Map/Stats
Per the 2020 Census, NDC has noted that Visalia’s total population is 141,998. This currently breaks down to District 1: 32,159, District 2: 27,743, District 3: 27,099, District 4: 26,644 and District 5: 28,353. This amounts to a population deviation of 5,515 which equates to a percentage deviation of 19.42%. This percentage of deviation legally requires Visalia to adjust the districts. NDC notes that the Target District Population is 28,400.
Redistricting Rules and Goals
The current district boundaries are based on 2010 census data as required by law. The districts must now be redrawn using the 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.
Under the Act, the council shall draw and adopt boundaries using the following criteria in the listed order of priority (Elections Code 21621(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” (socio-economic geographic areas that should be kept together)
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
Defining Communities of Interest
Through the Public Hearings, Mapping Workshops, and general feedback, staff has continued to accept responses from the public on what defines their community. Communities of interest can include, but is not limited to, geographic area, shared issues, or characteristics like shared social or economic interest and impact by city policies.
The City is seeking an answer to the question, would this community benefit from being included within a single district for purposes of its effective and fair representation or would it benefit from having multiple representatives? Of note, definitions of communities of interest may not include relationships with political parties, incumbents, or political candidates.
Public feedback received from Mapping Workshop #2 on Communities of Interest (COI) asked that the following principles be considered:
• More competition in Districts
• Reduce influence of wealth on representation
• Youth and diversity as guides
• Consider High Propensity Voting
• Consider “Centers of Influence”
• Respect history of “redlining”
• Don’t take incumbency into account
Specifically, the following Communities of Interest were identified:
• Saint John/Oval - Northern part of City
• North of Santa Fe St.
• “Above/Below” SR-198 as possible COI
• Lakes area in one district
Public Mapping and Map Review Tools
Through NDC, the City of Visalia made public mapping and map review tools available. With different tools for different purposes, these included:
• The simple map review tool ArcGIS Online, which is like Google maps in ease of use and is used to review, analyze, and compare maps but not create them.
• The simple map drawing tools comprised of the paper Public Participation Kits:
- Paper Map with Population Count in both English and Spanish.
- Paper Map with Population IDs with Excel spreadsheet to calculate population totals in both English and Spanish.
• Dave’s Redistricting App
- On online mapping tool that allows users to paint and create their own maps.
While these tools were available, community members were not limited to the mapping solutions provided by the City. Citizens could submit maps in any form they wanted, whether using their own software or creating a hand drawn map.
Processing Map Submissions
NDC notes that all map submissions will be considered and all those submitted to the City of Visalia have been included in this process. These include full maps using any of the tools that were made available, partial maps using any of the tools that were made available or map submissions that used alternative tools.
During the first Draft Map Public Hearings, Public Hearing No. 4, NDC brought forward submitted maps that were submitted to the City by December 22, 2021, at 5 p.m. These previously viewed maps included:
• Map 101
• Map 102
• Map 103
• Map 104
• Map 105
• Map 106
• Map 107
• Map 108
Maps 101 through 108 included both submitted maps and maps created by NDC. At Public Hearing No. 4 the maps were presented and included details on whether the maps were legal or not based on Federal/State law and if they were population balanced or not within 10% margin.
At the Final Draft Map Public Hearing (date and time to be determined), Focus Map(s) and additional maps presented by NDC will include analysis whether the maps are legal based on Federal/State law and if population is balanced with 10% margin.
Maps for Presentation
As part of this Public Hearing, 10 maps will be presented and reviewed. These maps were all submitted from the public, and were first posted “raw”, exactly as received, on the City website’s Redistricting page at www.visalia.city/drawvisalia <http://www.visalia.city/drawvisalia>. Of note, three maps were not submitted as maps, but rather shapefiles, which is within the parameters of files that can be accepted for this process. City staff reached out to these submitters to ask if they wanted to additionally provide a map (from their shapefiles) that could be posted raw, but the submitters chose not to, and this was noted on the City website. Staff labeled all maps and files submitted numerically and names of the map submitter were not included unless the map was submitted with a name on the physical map.
Staff did not want to alter any maps submitted; however, the thought was to present the maps as impartially as possible. The maps being presented and analyzed at this public hearing are:
• Map 109
• Map 110
• Map 111
• Map 112
• Map 113
• Map 114
• Map 115
• Map 116
• Map 117
• Map 118
Maps 109 through 118 are the public submitted maps received from December 20, 2021 at 5:01 p.m. through January 20, 2022 at 5 p.m.
Fiscal Impact:
N/A
Prior Council Action: January 10, 2022 - Held Public Hearing No. 4 on City Council Decennial Redistricting process and received presentation from presentation from Ken Chawkins, Consultant, National Demographics Corporation with an overview of redistricting guidelines and review of draft maps. December 6, 2021 - Held Public Hearing No. 3 on City Council Decennial Redistricting process and received presentation from NDC. November 15, 2021 - Council authorized staff to 1) Draft revised timeline for the City Council District Decennial Redistricting process; and 2) Appropriate an additional $10,500 from the General Fund (001) to cover the anticipated costs of extending the redistricting process. September 20, 2021 - Held Public Hearing on City Council District Decennial Redistricting presentation. September 7, 2021 - Council confirmed direction regarding participation in the redistricting process by the City’s Commissions and Committees. July 19, 2021 - Council Authorized staff to enter into a contract with Doug Johnson of National Demographic Corporation to provide the demographic and mapping services noted in option two, services that are needed to arrive at a proposed adjusted map of the five Council Member districts for public review and comment and Council consideration and approval; and 2) Authorized staff to extend the contract with Nielsen Merksamer, the City’s State lobbying firm; and 3) Directed Staff to return with a presentation from NDC regarding the overall process and criteria requirements. 4) Appropriated an additional $65,000 to cover the anticipated costs of redistricting 5) Utilized the Measure N Committee to assist with outreach and oversight of the redistricting process.
Other: Click or tap here to enter text.
Alternatives: Click or tap here to enter text.
Recommended Motion (and Alternative Motions if expected):
recommendation
No action is required; however, Council could choose to direct NDC to make changes to some or all of the maps presented.
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Environmental Assessment Status: N/A
CEQA Review: N/A
Attachments: 1) City of Visalia Redistricting Public Hearing February 7, 2022, PowerPoint by NDC; 2) Map 109 - New Map Demographic Data 3) Map 110 - New Map Demographic Data; 4) Map 111 - New Map Demographic Data; 5) Map 112 - New Map Demographic Data; 6) Map 113 - New Map Demographic Data; 7) Map 114 - New Map Demographic Data; 8) Map 115 - New Map Demographic Data; 9) Map 116 - New Map Demographic Data; 10) Map 117 - New Map Demographic Data; 11) Map 118 - New Map Demographic Data; Public Comment PPT Received 2/3/22 - Dolores Huerta Foundation