DATE: May 25, 2021
TO: Board of Supervisors
SUBMITTED BY: Jean M. Rousseau, County Administrative Officer
SUBJECT: Appointment of Commissioners to 2021 Advisory Redistricting Commission
RECOMMENDED ACTION(S):
TITLE
Approve appointment of eleven commissioners to the 2021 Advisory Redistricting Commission.
REPORT
The purpose of this agenda item is for your Board to appoint eleven commissioners to the 2021 Advisory Redistricting Commission. Redistricting is the process by which Supervisorial District boundaries are drawn every 10 years to equalize, as closely as possible, the population in each Supervisorial District. On April 27, 2021, your Board approved the formation of the 2021 Advisory Redistricting Commission and the associated application process. The application period was open April 27th through May 14th and staff advised your Board it would return today for the appointment of eleven qualified members to the Commission. This item is countywide.
ALTERNATIVE ACTION(S):
Your Board may deny the recommended action in which case you will need to either form one of the other two options for a redistricting commission, hybrid or independent, or complete the redistricting process without a commission. In addition, your Board may decide to extend the application deadline in order to solicit additional applications. If your Board decides to extend the deadline, this will delay the redistricting project.
FISCAL IMPACT:
There is no increase in Net County Cost associated with the recommended action. The Commission members will be volunteers and there is no funding available to provide reimbursement for meals and mileage.
DISCUSSION:
Redistricting is the process by which Supervisorial District boundaries are drawn every ten years to ensure each district has an equal number of residents. In adopting new Supervisorial Districts, the Board must comply with the requirements of the United States and California Constitutions, the federal Voting Rights Act, and the California Elections Code. On April 13, 2021, your Board directed staff to return with a resolution to establish an Advisory Redistricting Commission on April 27, 2021. The composition of the Commission and recommended selection of the Commission members is as follows:
1. Composition
a. The Commission shall be comprised of a total of eleven registered voters of Fresno County.
b. Two qualified members will be selected and recommended for appointment by each of the Board Members from an applicant pool representing their respective Supervisorial District (ten members).
c. One qualified member will be recommended by the CAO for appointment by your Board.
2. Selection
a. Applicants submitted their applications to the CAO’s Office for a period of April 27, 2021 through May 14, 2021 at 5:00 p.m.
After the closing date for acceptance of applications, CAO staff verified the information on the applications and provided each Board Member copies of the completed applications submitted by qualified applicants who reside within their districts. Each Board Member then selected and recommend for appointment two qualified members from their respective district and submitted to the CAO by May 18, 2021. One member of the remaining qualified applicants was recommended for appointment by the CAO
As required by Elections Code section 23002, subdivision (c), Commission members are not County elected officials, or family members, staff, or paid campaign staff of a County elected official. According to Elections Code section 23002, subdivision (b), “family member” means a spouse, parent, sibling, child, or in-law, and under subdivision (h) “spouse” means a spouse or registered domestic partner. Commission members are also subject to the guidelines set forth in the attached application.
The eleven commissioners for appointment to the Advisory Redistricting Commission are as follows:
District One
District Two
District Three - Hugo Morales and Patience Milrod
District Four - James O. Petty Jr. and Glenda Hill
District Five - Richard Gallegos and Suzanne Mott
CAO Recommendation - Jeff Cardell
The 2021 Advisory Redistricting Commission will serve in an advisory capacity to the Board of Supervisors and will evaluate the existing boundaries of each Supervisorial District, receive and consider public input, and develop options for boundary adjustments to account for population and demographic changes as provided in the 2020 Census data. Duties of the Commission shall include the following:
1. Attendance and participation at public hearings and/or workshops.
2. Work collaboratively with County staff and retained consultants.
3. Meet with County staff and retained consultants to receive training and draw proposed district boundaries.
4. Develop redistricting plan recommendations to present to the Board of Supervisors.
Based on Elections Code section 21501, subdivision (a)(2), the Supervisorial District boundaries must be adopted no later than 174 days before the June 7, 2022 statewide primary election, which is December 15, 2021. A timeline for the redistricting project is provided in Attachment A.
The 2021 Advisory Redistricting Commission will receive direct support through CAO staff, County Counsel, the Information Technology Division of the Department of Internal Services, the Registrar of Voters, and the Geographic Information Systems staff in the Public Works and Planning Department. In addition, the County will also utilize outside consultants as follows: National Demographics Corporation is the demographer and Tripepi Smith is the Marketing Outreach manager/coordinator.
REFERENCE MATERIAL:
BAI #27, April 27, 2021
BAI #6, April 13, 2021
ATTACHMENTS INCLUDED AND/OR ON FILE:
Attachment A - Project Timeline
CAO ANALYST:
Samantha Buck