City Council Begins Redistricting Process, Hears City Clerk Outline Details of Procedures, Requirements, and Deadlines

The process of redistricting began on Monday with a workshop at Monday’s City Council meeting.

City Clerk Mark Jomsky presented the administrative process and legal framework on redistricting procedures that will be used to determine how the current boundaries of the seven council voting districts might be redrawn based on 2020 Census data.

After each 10-year census, the city utilizes that information to examine the people residing in existing City Council district boundaries to account for changes in population.

The redistricting plan must be submitted by Dec. 15. The council must hold at least four public hearings before approving the map.

The City Council will appoint a citizen-based task force to examine census data. The task force will then recommend a redistricting plan to the City Council.

Applications to serve on the city’s Citizen-Based Redistricting Task Force are available by using the city’s commission application format. Applications must be turned in by April 1.

To support public participation, city staff is requesting that a public engagement professional be retained to lead outreach and get the public involved. Duties will include crafting messaging, utilizing social media platforms, coordinating with city public information staff, and ensuring compliance with language requirements.

“The task force will receive training on the legal requirements and framework governing redistricting ahead of consideration of potential changes to council district boundaries,” the staff report reads.

“One of the benefits of the task force is to provide a public process that is singularly focused on the issue of redistricting, allowing members in the community to propose their own plans, comment on plans under consideration, and provide feedback to the task force regarding issues of importance and impacts that may occur related to redistricting,” the report states.

A request for proposal, RFP, for a professional redistricting consultant and demographer will be issued on Thursday, March 18, and circulate for approximately three weeks.

In the past, the redistricting task force has participated in the selection process for the consultant, including working with staff to review proposals, conduct interviews, and select the consultant(s) for recommendation to the City Council for approval.

In 2012, the City Council voted 6-1 to shift the districts slightly, resulting in the exchange of about 1,392 people from one district to another.

Thirty years ago, redrawing the lines put Victor Gordo on the road to the mayor’s gavel when the council created a new district — which is now District 5 — in the hopes of creating more opportunities for growing numbers of Latino residents to participate in the political process.

That seat was won by Bill Crowfoot, Gordo served as his field rep before winning the seat and eventually becoming the second elected mayor in modern history.