HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC Resolution 15047 (2021-2022 City Council Redistricting Process)1
RESOLUTION NO. 15047
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY OF SAN RAFAEL ADJUSTING THE
BOUNDARIES AND SELECTING A PREFERRED DISTRICT MAP OF
THE CITY COUNCIL DISTRICTS IN ACCORDANCE WITH CALIFORNIA
ELECTIONS CODE SECTIONS 21601-21609 AND SAN RAFAEL
MUNICIPAL CODE SECTION 2.02.040
WHEREAS, in 2018 the City Council of San Rafael adopted Ordinance No. 1956,
approving the change of the City’s electoral system from an at-large to a “by-district”
electoral system with a separately elected mayor; and
WHEREAS, the districts adopted thereby were used for the first time at the 2020
elections; and
WHEREAS, California Elections Code section 21621 requires each charter city
that uses by-district elections to readjust those district boundaries in the year following
the release of a new Census, to ensure compliance with constitutional equal population
requirements; and
WHEREAS, the United States Supreme Court has held that a “total deviation”
under 10% is presumptively constitutional; and
WHEREAS, the existing council districts have a “total deviation” of population
between the districts of 8.53% based on the 2020 Census; and
WHEREAS, under changes to state law adopted by the Legislature in 2019 there
are additional criteria that electoral districts must comply with, including contiguity,
minimizing division of neighborhoods and communities of interest to the extent possible,
following easily understandable boundaries to the extent possible, and encouraging the
compactness of population to the extent practicable; and
WHEREAS, the City has retained an experienced redistricting/demographic
consulting firm, National Demographics Corporation (“NDC”), and experienced legal
counsel, Nielsen Merksamer, to advise it on the process of preparing a revised district
plan; and
WHEREAS, on July 19, 2021, the City Council received a presentation from the
City’s retained special voting rights counsel regarding the redistricting process, after
which the Council approved a detailed timeline and work plan for the redistricting process;
and
WHEREAS, the Census Bureau belatedly released the 2020 “Public Law 94-171”
(“PL94-171”) redistricting data files on August 12, 2021; and
WHEREAS, on September 13, 2021, the City’s special counsel provided the City
Council with an additional presentation summarizing the legal rules governing the
2
readjustment of district lines and the preliminary demographics of the existing districts
based on the PL94-171 data; and
WHEREAS, the California Statewide Database (“SWDB”) released an “adjusted”
version of the Census redistricting data on September 21, 2021, as required by state law,
and a corrected version of those adjusted data on September 27, 2021; and
WHEREAS, on November 15, 2021, the City Council received updated information
regarding the final “adjusted” demographics of the existing districts based on the SWDB
data, after which the Council conducted its first duly-noticed public hearing to receive
public testimony regarding the composition of the districts, especially communities of
interest; and
WHEREAS, on January 18, 2022, the City Council conducted a second duly-
noticed public hearing at its regular council meeting to receive public testimony regarding
the composition of the districts and instructed its consultants to prepare draft maps for
consideration at future public hearings; and
WHEREAS, on February 22, 2022, NDC presented two draft council district plans
to the City Council—both of which were prepared according to the criteria set forth in state
law—one showing the existing lines, which, as noted above, remain population-balanced,
and another “Minimal Change” plan that preserves the communities of interest identified
during the 2018 district process; and
WHEREAS, following the demographic consultant’s presentation on February 22
the City Council conducted a third duly-noticed public hearing to receive public input
regarding the draft maps; and
WHEREAS, on March 21, 2022, the City Council conducted a fourth duly-noticed
public hearing regarding the draft maps; and
WHEREAS, throughout this process the City has maintained a detailed
redistricting website as required by law, https://redistrictsanrafael.org/; and
WHEREAS, the City has provided notices and other materials in Spanish, and has
provided translation services upon request; and
WHEREAS, the City has engaged in good-faith public outreach to community
groups and other interested parties as required by law; and
WHEREAS, the City made available to the public paper and online mapping tools
to permit them to submit draft maps if so desired;
WHEREAS, the City Council has considered all public comments on the proposed
council district plans; and
3
WHEREAS, the Council believes that the districts contained in the Current Districts
map (2018) (the “Preferred Map”), incorporated herein, would best serve the interests of
the City and the public at large; and
WHEREAS, the populations in the proposed districts of the Preferred Map are
substantially equal in compliance with legal requirements; and
WHEREAS, Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, 52 U.S.C. § 10301, prohibits the
use of any voting qualification, or prerequisite to voting, or standard, practice, or
procedure in a manner which results in a denial or abridgement of the right of any citizen
of the United States to vote on account of race or color, and the Preferred Map complies
with section 2 of the Voting Rights Act; and
WHEREAS, the Preferred Map is drawn is geographically contiguous; and
WHEREAS, the Preferred Map seeks to minimize the division of communities of
interest and neighborhoods to the extent possible; and
WHEREAS, the Preferred Map uses easily understandable boundaries, like
streets, natural and artificial barriers, and the boundaries of the City, to the extent
possible; and
WHEREAS, the Preferred Map is drawn to encourage geographical compactness
to the extent practicable;
NOW, THEREFORE, the City Council of San Rafael does hereby resolve, declare,
and determine as follows:
DIVISION 1: FINDINGS AND DETERMINATIONS.
All of the recitals set forth above are true and correct, and the City Council so finds and
determines.
DIVISION 2: ADOPTION OF NEW COUNCIL DISTRICT MAP.
Pursuant to California Elections Code section 21601 and San Rafael Municipal Code
section 2.02.040, the City Council prefers the district boundaries in the Current Districts
map (2018), attached hereto as Exhibit “A” and incorporated herein by this reference (the
“Preferred Map”); believes that its adoption would best serve the public interest of the
City’s residents and voters; and by this resolution hereby adopts the district boundaries
in that Preferred Map for use at the City’s November 2022 election and subsequent
elections until a further re-alignment is required pursuant to Elections Code section 21601
and San Rafael Municipal Code section 2.02.040, following the release of the 2030
Census.
4
DIVISION 3: IMPLEMENTATION.
1. The City Manager and/or designee shall take all actions necessary to notify
the Marin County Registrar’s Office of the Council’s determination forthwith and provide
whatever assistance may be required by the Registrar’s Office to implement the new
district lines.
2. Because the new district plan may contain technical anomalies caused by
errors in the 2020 Census line files that do not substantively affect the populations in the
districts, the district boundaries, or the intent of this Resolution, which anomalies are not
revealed until implementation begins, the City Manager and/or designee is authorized to
make technical emendations to the new plan that do not substantively affect the
populations in the districts, the district boundaries, or the intent of this Resolution, and
shall advise the City Council of any such emendations that are found to be required in
plan implementation by the County Registrar’s Office.
3. The City Manager shall consult with legal counsel and/or the City’s
demographic consultant as necessary to resolve any legal or technical issues necessary
to give effect to this Resolution.
DIVISION 4: CEQA COMPLIANCE.
The City Council finds that the proposed realignment of the existing council district map
is exempt from the requirements of the California Environmental Quality
Act (CEQA) pursuant to Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations, Section
15061(b)(3) in that it is not a project which has the potential for causing a
significant effect on the environment
DIVISION 5: CONFLICTING MEASURES.
To the extent that the terms and provisions of this Resolution may be inconsistent or in
conflict with the terms or conditions of any prior City ordinance, motion, resolution, rule or
regulation governing the same subject, the terms of this Resolution shall prevail with
respect to the subject matter thereof.
DIVISION 6: INTERPRETATION.
In interpreting this Resolution or resolving any ambiguity, this Resolution shall be
interpreted in a manner that effectively accomplishes its stated purposes.
DIVISION 7: SEVERABILITY
If any section, subsection, subdivision, sentence, clause, phrase, or portion of this
Resolution, is for any reason held to be invalid or unconstitutional by the decision of any
court of competent jurisdiction, such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining
portions of this Resolution. The City Council of the City of San Rafael hereby declares
that it would have adopted this Resolution, and each section, subsection, subdivision,
sentence, clause, phrase, or portion thereof, irrespective of the fact that anyone or more
5
sections, subsections, subdivisions, sentences, clauses, phrases, or portions thereof be
declared invalid or unconstitutional.
I, LINDSAY LARA, City Clerk of the City of San Rafael, hereby certify that the
foregoing resolution was duly and regularly introduced and adopted at a regular meeting
of the Council of said City held on the 21st day of March 2022, by the following vote:
AYES: COUNCIL MEMBERS: BUSHEY, HILL, KERTZ, LLORENS GULATI &
MAYOR KATE
NOES: COUNCIL MEMBERS: NONE
ABSENT: COUNCIL MEMBERS: NONE
Lindsay Lara, City Clerk
Attachment:
Exhibit A (the Current Districts map (2018))
6
Exhibit A to Resolution No. 15047
(Map of City Council Districts – 2020 Census)
Current Districts
District 1
Total Pop 14,853
Deviation from ideal -480
% Deviation -3.13%
% Hisp 79.8%
% NH White 12%
% NH Black 1%
% Asian-American 5%
Total 4,296
% Hisp 42%
% NH White 41%
% NH Black 3%
% Asian/Pac.Isl.13%
Total 3,340
% Latino est.33%
% Spanish-Surnamed 30%
% Asian-Surnamed 10%
% Filipino-Surnamed 1%
% NH White est.54%
% NH Black 3%
Total 2,637
% Latino est.30%
% Spanish-Surnamed 28%
% Asian-Surnamed 10%
% Filipino-Surnamed 1%
% NH White est.56%
% NH Black 3%
Total 1,858
% Latino est.22%
% Spanish-Surnamed 21%
% Asian-Surnamed 8%
% Filipino-Surnamed 1%
% NH White est.64%
% NH Black est.3%
ACS Pop. Est.Total 15,353
age0-19 37%
age20-60 54%
age60plus 9%
immigrants 48%
naturalized 17%
english 25%
spanish 67%
asian-lang 4%
other lang 3%
Language Fluency Speaks Eng. "Less than Very Well"48%
hs-grad 32%
bachelor 12%
graduatedegree 8%
Child in Household child-under18 51%
Pct of Pop. Age 16+employed 73%
income 0-25k 20%
income 25-50k 24%
income 50-75k 21%
income 75-200k 25%
income 200k-plus 10%
single family 30%
multi-family 70%
rented 77%
owned 23%
Total population data from the 2020 Decennial Census.
Surname-based Voter Registration and Turnout data from the California Statewide Database.
Latino voter registration and turnout data are Spanish-surname counts adjusted using Census Population Department undercount estimates. NH White and NH
Black registration and turnout counts estimated by NDC. Citizen Voting Age Pop., Age, Immigration, and other demographics from the 2015-2019 American
Community Survey and Special Tabulation 5-year data.
2
15,732
399
2.60%
21%
65%
2%
7%
10,843
7%
84%
3%
5%
10,501
7%
7%
3%
1%
85%
3%
9,288
7%
6%
3%
1%
86%
3%
7,801
5%
5%
3%
0%
88%
2%
14,193
17%
57%
25%
18%
38%
82%
12%
2%
4%
7%
29%
37%
22%
22%
71%
12%
17%
12%
38%
22%
53%
47%
58%
42%
3
14,720
-613
-4.00%
21%
64%
2%
9%
10,421
10%
76%
3%
9%
9,653
7%
7%
4%
1%
86%
2%
8,610
6%
6%
4%
1%
87%
2%
7,233
6%
5%
3%
1%
88%
2%
13,721
20%
44%
36%
19%
63%
76%
11%
5%
8%
9%
28%
34%
24%
23%
57%
14%
14%
8%
36%
28%
74%
26%
36%
64%
4
16,028
695
4.53%
18%
64%
2%
12%
10,843
9%
80%
1%
8%
10,440
7%
6%
4%
1%
87%
1%
9,231
6%
6%
4%
1%
87%
1%
7,691
5%
5%
4%
1%
89%
1%
15,632
23%
47%
31%
22%
48%
72%
11%
5%
12%
12%
25%
34%
29%
27%
62%
11%
11%
15%
40%
23%
60%
40%
37%
63%
Total
61,333
1,308
8.53%
34%
52%
2%
8%
36,403
12%
75%
3%
8%
33,934
10%
9%
4%
1%
83%
2%
29,766
9%
8%
4%
1%
84%
2%
24,583
7%
6%
4%
1%
86%
2%
58,898
25%
50%
25%
27%
34%
64%
25%
4%
7%
19%
28%
31%
22%
29%
66%
13%
16%
13%
36%
22%
56%
44%
50%
50%
02/12/2022 15:03 Page 1 of 1
Total Pop
Citizen Voting Age Pop
Voter Registration
(Nov 2020)
Voter Turnout
(Nov 2020)
Voter Turnout
(Nov 2018)
Age
Immigration
Language spoken at home
Education
(among those age 25+)
Household Income
Housing Stats