Title
a. Approve District appointments to the 2021 Advisory Redistricting Commission for a term ending December 31, 2021.
Report
RECOMMENDATION:
It is recommended that the Board of Supervisors:
a. Approve District appointments to the 2021 Advisory Redistricting Commission for a term ending December 31, 2021.
SUMMARY/DISCUSSION:
On May 13, 2021, the Board approved the formation of the 2021 Advisory Redistricting Commission. The Commission consists of three appointments for each supervisorial district for a total of a 15-member Commission. The names of the selected appointees for the Commission from each district are listed in Attachment A and upon approval will constitute the Advisory Redistricting Commission for 2021.
The solicitation period to receive applications from the public opened on June 2, 2021 and closed on July 19, 2021. A total number of 58 applications were received. Each Supervisor received all applications for their district, reviewed and selected the three appointees. Outreach and community engagement strategies included ad buys in local print and digital media, TV ad buys in local news channels, social media marketing, community radio show interviews, TV news interviews on local news channels in English and Spanish, flyer distribution via email to community networks, an online Redistricting 101 workshop and open virtual office hours offering the public the opportunity to drop-in for assistance in completing their application.
The Commission will be staffed by a Management Analyst III in the County Administrative Office, working as the Redistricting Manager, along with staff from the Office of County Counsel, the Elections Department, Information and Technology Department, demographers of the firm Lapkoff and Gobalet Demographic Research, Inc. and third-party legal counsel Marguerite Leoni.
It is anticipated the Commission will hold its first meeting in August 2021 and schedule regular meetings and public listening sessions to gather Communities of Interest information, at that time. When the U.S. Census data becomes available in September 2021 the Commission will hold public listening sessions to gather testimony on proposed redistricting maps. Meeting schedules will be posted on the Advisory Redistricting Commission webpage.
The Commission will serve the for purpose of community outreach, engagement and education and to recommend potential supervisorial redistricting changes to the Board to meet the requirements as mandated by the U.S. and California Constitutions, the Voting Rights Act and Elections Code Sections 21500 et seq. The Board must adopt an ordinance amending supervisorial districts no later than December 15, 2021. Staff recommends that the Board adopt the ordinance prior to this date, to ensure the ordinance will be effective by the December 15, 2021 deadline, having dealt with potential challenges and allowing for filing for the County Clerk of the Board and confidence for the Registrar of Elections in implementing the newly drawn districts for the next regular election.
OTHER AGENCY INVOLVEMENT:
This report is prepared by the CAO-Office of Community Engagement & Strategic Advocacy and has been reviewed by County Counsel. The following departments are engaged in support of the 2021 Redistricting process in their respective capacities: Information Technology Department, Contracts and Purchasing, Elections.
FINANCING:
Approval of this recommendation will not result in any financial impact.
BOARD OF SUPERVISORS STRATEGIC INITIATIVES:
Approval of this recommendation supports efforts the decennial redistricting process for the Monterey County supervisorial boundary lines.
Mark a check to the related Board of Supervisors Strategic Initiatives
X_ Economic Development
X_ Administration
X_ Health & Human Services
X_ Infrastructure
X_ Public Safety
Prepared by: Rosemary Soto, Management Analyst III
Approved by: Nick Chiulos, Assistant County Administrative Officer
Attachments:
ATTACHMENT A: Appointment for the Advisory Redistricting Commission