DATE: October 5, 2021
TO: Board of Supervisors
SUBMITTED BY: Jean M. Rousseau, County Administrative Officer
SUBJECT: Redistricting of County Supervisorial Districts
RECOMMENDED ACTION(S):
TITLE
Receive presentation on the status of the Redistricting of County Supervisorial Districts.
REPORT
The purpose of this agenda item is to provide your Board with an update on the redistricting process, current supervisorial district boundary information, and the criteria that will be used in the development of new County supervisorial district maps.
ALTERNATIVE ACTION(S):
There is no viable alternative action as this item has no action.
FISCAL IMPACT:
There is no increase in Net County Cost associated with the recommended action. Sufficient appropriations were included in the FY 2020-21 Adopted Budget, ORG 2540 - Miscellaneous and Interest Expense and in the FY 2021-22 Adopted Budget. The forecasted cost for the redistricting process is estimated to be approximately $270,000.
DISCUSSION:
The U.S. Constitution requires that everyone residing in the United States be counted every decade. The resulting Census data is used for geographically defining State and local legislative districts. This process is called “redistricting.”
According to California Elections Code, following each decennial Federal Census, your Board, using that Census as a basis, shall adjust the boundaries of any or all supervisorial districts of the County so that the districts shall be as nearly equal in population as feasible. Although the County went through a redistricting process back in 2011, the State has made significant statutory reforms to the process via the Fair Maps Act (AB 849), signed into law in 2019 and Local Redistricting (AB 1276), signed into law in 2020.
When redrawing district boundaries, your Board must comply with the requirements of the U.S. Constitution, California Constitution, the Federal Voting Rights Act of 1965, and the California Elections Code. These authorities require each district to have substantially equal population, generally prohibit using race as a predominate criteria for redrawing districts and prohibit diluting the voting rights of racial or language minority communities. Additionally, based on the updated Elections Code, the updated district boundaries must be redrawn using the following state legal criteria listed in order of priority:
1.) To the extent practicable, supervisorial districts shall be geographically contiguous.
2.) 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 defined in the Elections Code as “a population that shares common social or economic interests that should be included within a single supervisorial district for purposes of its effective and fair representation. Communities of interest do not include relationships with political parties, incumbents, or political candidates.”
3.) To the extent practicable, the geographic integrity of a city or census-designated place shall be respected in a manner that minimizes its division.
4.) Supervisorial district boundaries should be easily identifiable and understandable by residents. To the extent practicable, supervisorial districts shall be bounded by natural and artificial barriers, by streets, or by the boundaries of the County.
5.) To the extent practicable and where it does not conflict with the preceding criteria, supervisorial 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.
Further, districts must not be redrawn to favor or discriminate against any political party.
KEY DATES & DEADLINES
Under current state law, your Board must adopt boundaries no later than 174 days prior to the County’s next regular election held after January 1, 2022. The County’s next regular election after January 1, 2022 is the statewide direct primary election, which is presently scheduled for June 7, 2022. December 15, 2021 is 174 days prior to the June 7, 2022 primary election. Based on this, your Board would need to adopt an ordinance redrawing the supervisorial boundaries no later than December 15, 2021. The redistricting plan/map must be approved by your Board by 4/5th vote (as determined in the County Charter). If your Board fails to adopt the new boundaries by December 15, 2021, your Board shall immediately file a petition with the Superior Court within five days for an order adopting supervisorial district boundaries.
For the upcoming redistricting effort, the U.S. Census Bureau provided the states the 2020 Census data on August 12, 2021. Previously, Census data was scheduled to be sent by March 2021 but due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, this date was postponed. Pursuant to the Elections Code, the Census data was released on August 12, 2021, however the State needed to adjust the data to reallocate inmates incarcerated in State correctional facilities to their appropriate Census block, and that adjusted data was released in database form on September 20, 2021. At the time of writing this agenda that State-adjusted database had not yet been compiled and uploaded into a useable format for mapping or reporting.
TIMELINE OF ACTIVITIES:
April - June 2021: Project Planning & Initial Outreach
• Determination of process and makeup of commission
• Selected consultant to assist in training and guiding staff and commission
• Selected public mapping tool(s)
• Redistricting Website launched
• Outreach started
July 2021
• July 7 - Commission Meeting (organizational/training)
• July 14 - Public Workshop #1 - District 4 - Riverdale
August 2021
• August 3 - Public Workshop #2 - District 1 - Rutherford B. Gaston Middle School
• August 4 - Public Workshop #3 - District 3 - Fresno High School
• August 12 - U.S. Census released (unadjusted numbers)
• August 12 - Commission Meeting/Public Hearing (pre-draft map, public hearing #1)
• August 21 - Public Workshop #4 - District 2 - Woodward Park Library
• August 21 - Public Workshop #5 - District 5 - Clovis Veterans Memorial District
September 2021
• September 20 - State adjusted “final” Census database released
• September 29 - Public Workshop #6 - all districts - virtual
October 2021
• October 5 - Commission Meeting/Public Hearing (pre-draft map, public hearing #2)
• October 21 - Commission Meeting/Public Hearing (pre-draft map, public hearing #3)
November 2021
• November 2 - Board of Supervisors Public Hearing (post-draft map, public hearing #1)
• November 16 - Board of Supervisors Public Hearing (post-draft map, public hearing #2, 1st reading of Ordinance)
December 2021
• December 14 - Board of Supervisors Hearing - regular agenda item (map adoption, #2 reading of Ordinance)
Public Outreach Efforts
Tripepi Smith, the County’s contracted marketing outreach firm, in coordination with the County’s PIO, have developed a comprehensive Public Outreach Plan, Attachment “A,” that details the methods and avenues used to increase public engagement throughout the redistricting process. This Public Outreach Plan continues to evolve and incorporates an extensive digital outreach via the internet, emails, and social media, in addition to direct phone calls to Community Based Organizations and interested organizations. In addition, the County has recently authorized additional funding for enhanced radio and digital advertising outreach to reach hard-to-reach communities.
Current Supervisorial District Boundaries
Attachment “B” provides a comparison of Census data from 2010 and 2020 along with detailed data on the current supervisorial district boundaries utilizing the 2020 Census. The 2020 Census data included in the attachment is estimated, as the State-adjusted data for the reallocation of inmates incarcerated in State correctional facilities to their appropriate Census block, was not available at the time this agenda was submitted.
The estimated data indicates:
- The percentage deviation of population Mean between supervisorial districts is 20.92% (maximum deviation allowed by law is 10%)
- The population has increased 8.40% from the 2010 Census, which is roughly one-half of the growth rate from 2000 - 2010 (16.39%)
- The Hispanic or Latino population now makes up 54% of the total population within Fresno County (up 15.5% from 2010)
REFERENCE MATERIAL:
BAI #5, May 25, 2021
BAI #27, April 27, 2021
BAI #6, April 13, 2021
ATTACHMENTS INCLUDED AND/OR ON FILE:
Attachment A - Public Outreach Plan
Attachment B - Comparison Data
CAO ANALYST:
Yussel Zalapa