Board Approval of the Board’s 2021 Redistricting Hearing Schedule and the RAC21 Members

Published Notice Required?   Yes         No    X
Public Hearing Required?   Yes         No    X   

Departmental Recommendation:

The County Administrator recommends the Board receive an update on Federal and State Redistricting legislation; Receive and update on the status of and proposed Redistricting 2021 project timeline to redraw the County’s district boundary lines; and Consider the appointments of members to the Solano County Redistricting Advisory Committee for a term to expire upon completion of the project.

Summary:

Staff will provide the Board an update on recent changes in legislation at the federal and state level, provide an overview on the status of the County’s Redistricting 2021 project and the proposed timeline in which to complete the project to meet the requirements of the Fair and Inclusive Redistricting for Municipalities and Political Subdivisions (FAIR MAPS) Act as chaptered in state law through Assembly Bill 849 (2019/20) and
Assembly Bill 1276 (2020/21), and introduce the Board to the consultants who will be providing demographic support and assisting them through this legally mandated process. In addition, staff is requesting the Board to appoint members from their districts to serve on the County Redistricting Advisory Committee (RAC21) to help inform the Board on redrawing district lines.

Discussion:

Federal/State Redistricting Updates

Since staff’s last update to the Board on redistricting, the following activities have occurred:

On February 12, 2021, the United States Census Bureau announced a series of deadlines for release of census data in 2021. The first deadline is April 30, 2021 for the release of the nationwide Congressional Apportionment data for dividing the 435 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives among the 50 states. If the apportionment data is released as scheduled, it will be the first time the United States Census Bureau has met a deadline for the 2021 redistricting cycle. As part of the announcement, the United States Census Bureau indicated it would deliver redistricting data to all states by September 30, 2021, two months later than the original delay announced in April 2020, and six months beyond the statutory deadline (March 31 of the year following the Census count) for the release of this data under federal law. On March 15, 2021, the Bureau further announced that it would be releasing a summary redistricting data file to the states in mid -to-late August, but in a “legacy format” that states could reformat on their own to use for redistricting. The Bureau reiterated it would provide the dataset in its standard formatting by September 30. Below is the link to the United States Census Bureau’s timeline for releasing redistricting data.
<https://www.census.gov/newsroom/blogs/random-samplings/2021/02/timeline-redistricting-data.html>

The California Office of the Legislative Counsel released an opinion (Attachment A) on April 1, 2021 clarifying whether the adoption date referred to in the California Elections Code means the date the jurisdiction passes a resolution establishing district boundaries or if it means the date the resolution or ordinance goes into effect . The California Elections Code requires counties to adopt boundaries 174 days prior to the County’s next
regular election which would set the adoption date on or before December 15, 2021 which is the 174 days before the Primary election currently set for June 7, 2022. The Office of the Legislative Counsel opined that “adopt” for the purposes of the redistricting deadlines specified in the California Elections Code means the date the jurisdiction passes the resolution or ordinance establishing its district boundaries, not the date the
resolution or ordinance goes into effect. This effectively alleviates some pressure in the already tight timeline caused by the delays in the release of the Census data for the County to adopt or approve new boundary lines.

Similarly, there is a bill in the California Legislature, Senate Bill 594 authored by Senator Steve Glazer who represents Senate District 7 proposing to clarify the term “adopt” for purposes of approval versus effective date and would also clarify that a superior court’s order adopting district boundaries is immediately effective and has the same force and effect as an enacted ordinance or resolution of the jurisdiction ’s legislative body.  This latter provision would only apply if a jurisdiction does not meet the deadlines and their redistricting is ordered to the superior court for action. There is rumor of other potential amendments that may be put forward including adjusting the redistricting timelines slightly to increase the amount of time jurisdictions have to meet all the requirements of the Fair and Inclusive Redistricting for Municipalities and Political Subdivisions (FAIR MAPS) Act as chaptered in state law through Assembly Bill 849 (2019/20) and Assembly Bill 1276 (2020/21).
There is also talk of moving the date of the Primary election to allow additional time but neither amendment has surfaced at this time.

Solano County Proposed Redistricting 2021 Project Timeline

Solano County has contracted with Redistricting Partners, one of the leading redistricting companies in California, to support the County’s Redistricting 2021 efforts. Redistricting Partners has been working for the last 10 years on redistricting, racially polarized voting analysis, California Voting Rights Act (CVRA) implementation, and mid-decade redistricting work, primarily in California, for the past decade, with GIS and
political experience that goes back more than 20 years. Paul Mitchell, Owner of Redistricting Partners is the lead for Solano County and will be supported by Chris Chaffee, Chief Operations Officer; Sophia Garcia, GIS and Outreach Director; and Kimi Shigetani, Chief Administrative Officer.

Given what we know at this point, staff has prepared a preliminary timeline related to specific activities including the Redistricting Advisory Committee’s outreach efforts and meetings which is outlined in Attachment C. It is anticipated that the appointment of all Redistricting Advisory Committee members will be completed by mid-May and they will have their first meeting by the end of May to receive legal and outreach
training to complete their work in the summer months and report to the Board by the end of September.

During this time, staff and the Consultants will be working on several items related to launching the Solano County Redistricting 2021 website, updating GIS maps with current data and statewide data released from the United States Census Bureau, as well as the deployment of mapping software for the community to submit community of interest maps to be included as part of the proposed maps the Board will consider before final approval of boundary lines in December.

As noted, the Fair Maps Act requires counties to adopt their new boundaries by December 15, 2021. Staff is targeting December 7, 2021 for the Board approval of the final boundary maps; however, to meet the current deadlines outlined in the Fair Maps Act. However, one additional meeting for December 14, 2021 has been built into the timeline to allow flexibility in the event the Board requires more time vet the options. A copy of the
proposed Board schedule is contained in Attachment D.

Future Board hearings related to the Redistricting 2021 project are required to be time specific on the agenda.

Redistricting Advisory Committee (RAC21)

The Board of Supervisors, at their March 9, 2021 meeting, approved a resolution to form a fifteen-member Redistricting Advisory Committee (RAC21) which would consist of three members from each district including one member from each district that lives in the unincorporated area of the County to assist with outreach and help inform them on the 2021 redistricting project. The Redistricting Advisory Committee will serve in a
planning and outreach capacity consistent with the Fair Maps Act. Attachment B provides a list of appointees by district selected to serve on the Redistricting Advisory Committee.

The duties of the Redistricting Advisory Committee include planning outreach meetings and conducting them in collaboration with the County’s redistricting team made up of County staff and the County’s consultant team from Redistricting Partners, LLC. In particular, the Redistricting Advisory Committee will perform outreach activities to help identify communities of interest to ensure the integrity of those neighborhoods are maintained geographically within the confines of federal and state law governing redistricting. The Redistricting Advisory Committee members will work with staff to implement the Redistricting Plan, hold up to nine public hearings between June and August 2021 to ensure community members in each district/city is able to participate. It is anticipated that the Redistricting Advisory Committee will complete and convey to the Board a report outlining all the communities of interest groups within the County by the end of September.

The Redistricting team and consultants will utilize the report to help inform district boundaries and GIS map options when developing proposed boundary lines or boundary options for the Board to consider between October and December.

Staff will report back to the Board periodically with status updates or as requested by the Board. Attachment C provides the proposed timeline including outreach meetings for the Redistricting Advisory Committee.

Financial Impact:

The costs associated with preparing this agenda item are nominal and are included in the Department ’s 2020/21 Adopted Budget. There is no additional impact to the County General Fund.

Alternatives:

The Board may choose not to receive an update on redistricting activities or accept these recommended appointments to the Redistricting Advisory Committee. This is not recommended, however, as these actions are consistent with prior Board direction and present an opportunity to stay current with redistricting requirements which remain fluid at best.

Other Agency Involvement:

None

CAO Recommendation:

Approve Departmental Recommendation

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