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Public Forums and Hearings Scheduled to Seek Public Input on Electoral Districts in Cathedral City

Public Forums and Hearings Scheduled to Seek Public Input on Electoral Districts in Cathedral City

As Cathedral City moves from “at-large” elections for its city council to “by-districts” elections beginning in November 2018, the Council retained National Demographics Corporation and has requested public input to establish and draw electoral districts. The Draft Maps have now been completed and are available at http://www.cathedralcity.gov/government/electoral-districts.

You are also invited to provide your thoughts and ideas regarding the Draft Maps to the City Council. You can do so by attending a public forum, such as “City Hall at Your Corner” and/or at one of the Public Hearings scheduled during the City Council meetings.

City Hall at Your Corner:
July 18, 2017, 5 pm to 6 pm, City Hall, Study Session Room, 68-700 Avenida Lalo Guerrero

August 10, 2017, 5 pm to 6 pm, Cathedral City Public Library, 33520 Date Palm Drive

Public Hearings:
The City Council held its first Public Hearing to discuss the draft maps at a Special Council Meeting on Monday, June 26, 2017. Here is the schedule for future public hearings:

07-26-2017 Second Public Hearing to discuss draft maps. Council direction on map revisions.

08-09-2017 Third Public Hearing to discuss draft maps. Council direction on map revisions.

09-13-2017 Fourth Public Hearing on draft maps and introduction of ordinance (with map)

09-27-2017 Fifth and final Public Hearing on draft maps and second reading and adoption of ordinance.

November 2018 First districts hold by-district elections.

November 2020 Remaining districts hold by-districts elections.

The City Council also approved a Resolution specifying the criteria to guide the establishment of electoral districts which will be followed in drawing proposed district lines. 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.

Council issued a resolution to establish the following criteria to draw the Electoral Districts:

  1. The boundaries of the electoral districts shall be established so that the electoral districts are equal in population as defined by law.
  2. The boundaries of the electoral districts shall not be gerrymandered in violation of the principles established by the United States Supreme Court in Shaw v. Reno, 509 U.S. 630 (1993), and its progeny.
  3. The boundaries of the electoral districts shall be established so that the electoral districts do not result in a denial or abridgement of the right of any citizen to vote on account of race or color as provided in Section 2 of the federal Voting Rights Act.
  4. The boundaries of the electoral districts shall observe communities of interest as identified in public comment or identified by the city council, including, but not limited to rural or urban populations; social interests; agricultural, industrial or service industry interests; residential and commercial areas, the location of city facilities and historical sites, and the like, insofar as practicable.
  5. The boundaries of the electoral districts shall be compact, insofar as practicable.
  6. The boundaries of the electoral districts shall be created to contain cohesive, contiguous territory, insofar as practicable.
  7. The boundaries of the electoral districts may observe topography and geography, such as the existence of mountains, flat land, forest lands, man-made geographical features such as highways, major roadways and canals, etc., as natural divisions between districts, insofar as practicable.
  8. Unless otherwise required by law, the electoral districts shall be created using whole census blocks, insofar as practicable.
  9. The boundaries of the electoral districts may avoid the ” pairing” of incumbents in the same electoral district, insofar as this does not conflict with the constitution and laws of the State of California and the United States.
  10. The boundaries of the electoral districts shall comply with such other factors which become known during the districting process and are formally adopted by the City Council.

To view the schedule for establishing electoral districts as well as all resolutions, please go to the following website for more information: http://www.cathedralcity.gov/government/electoral-districts

Finally, you may contact your councilmembers and provide input by going to http://www.cathedralcity.gov/government/mayor-council

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Chris Parman

View posts by Chris Parman
Former Communications & Events Manager 760-770-0396
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