City Council to Hold Public Hearing on Final Two Electoral Draft Maps Tonight
On the August 23, 2017, the City Council voted 5 to 0 to approve NDC Created Purple Map 2 with a (*) potential modification of the district lines in the downtown area if the census blocks used to draw boundaries align with the proposed change made by Mayor Stan Henry. The change would expand District 2 to allow for more area of the downtown that currently has no residential population to be included, thereby reducing District 1 proportionately. District 2 proposed new boundaries of Purple 2 map under the proposal will include the downtown area north of D street, east of Van Fleet and Monty Hall Drive, head west to Cathedral Canyon Drive along the North Cathedral City Channel, then north to the Whitewater Wash to connect with its current boundary. Mayor Henry suggested this change to divide the downtown among at least two councilmembers in order to guarantee continued progress and for at least two members to carry the responsibility.
National Demographics Corporation (NDC) was able to verify the census block requirement and honor Mayor Henry’s request to expand District 2 to include more of the downtown. NDC created a new map based on the mayor’s suggestion and titled it, NDC Created Purple Map 2B.
Tonight, the council will hold a public hearing to receive more input from the community on the proposed draft maps, determine a final map, and provide a first reading of an ordinance.
City Manager Charlie McClendon provides an informative video on the electoral districts draft map process up to now, and how you can still provide input prior to ratification. The video can be viewed at https://youtu.be/8Bg0Qof-VLQ.
Additionally, the Council’s motion stipulated for Districts 3, 4, and 5 to have a city council election in 2018 and Districts 1 and 2 have elections in 2020.
Currently, Mayor Pro Tem Greg Pettis lives in District 1 and he serves as an “at large” member of the council until 2020. Likewise, Councilmember John Aguilar lives in District 2 and he also holds an “at large” seat until 2020 as both councilmembers were elected to four-year terms in the November 2016 election. Councilmember Shelley Kaplan lives in District 1 and his term ends in 2018.
Mayor Stan Henry and Councilmember Mark Carnevale both live in District 3. Both councilmembers terms expire in 2018. District 3’s election will occur in 2018. If both councilmembers decided to run for re-election, then they would have to run against each other.
District 4 and 5 have no current councilmembers living in these districts and both districts are up for election in 2018. The voters in those districts will elect a new councilmember.
You can view NDC’s Created Purple Map 2 and NDC’s Created Purple Map 2B as well as the electoral districts draft map schedule at http://www.cathedralcity.gov/government/electoral-districts
A second and final reading of an ordinance will occur on September 27, 2017 at the final public hearing on this topic.
Background:
On March 8, 2017, the City Council approved a Resolution initiating procedures for establishing and implementing “by-district” elections for City Council Members starting in November 2018, which is consistent with Elections Code section 10010. The City Council also approved a Resolution specifying the criteria to guide the establishment of electoral districts. These criteria require the districts to be roughly equal in population, and drawn in a manner that does not result in a denial or abridgement of the right of any citizen to vote on account of race or color.
