Item 9 - Initiation of Post 2020 Census Redistricting Process and First Public HearingNovember 12, 2021, Item #9DATE: TO: FROM: CONTACT: SUBJECT: Summary: AG EN DA REPORT City of Poway November 16, 2021 Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council Alan Fenstermacher, City Attorney Alan Fenstermacher, City Attorney (714) 641-3452 or afenstermacher@poway.org CITY COUNCIL Initiation of Post 2020 Census Redistricting Process and First Public Hearing In 2017, following receipt of a letter threatening to sue the City of Poway for alleged violations of the California Voting Rights Act, the City Council made the decision to transition to by-district elections for the four City Council seats. The Mayor remains an at-large position (directly elected by the entire city). The City Council adopted the current district map on October 3, 2017 using 2010 U.S. Census data combined with 2018 demographic estimates. The City began the transition to by-district elections with the 2018 election and completed the full transition to by-district elections in 2020 Following each federal decennial census, California Elections Code sections 21601 and 21602 require cities with by-district elections to analyze population and demographic changes to assess whether or not changes are needed to their adopted district maps to maintain compliance with the criteria set forth in Elections Code. As described in much greater detail in the Discussion section below, the City is required to hold a specific number of public hearings to provide opportunities for the public to provide input to the process and potential changes to the district map. The November 16th public hearing will be the first in a series of four required public hearings. The City has engaged the services of National Demographics Corporation (NDC), which is the consultant the City used in 2017 when it converted to by-district elections. This staff report includes NDC's analysis of the City's 2020 U.S. Census data and the adopted district election map and corresponding demographics. N DC found that the City's current population deviation -the difference between the most populous and least populous districts -is well within the threshold where a map is considered "presumptively constitutional," and therefore, the City is not required to redraw the map to comply with the federal equal population requirement. Additionally, as described in more detail later in this report, at the time of adoption, the current City Council districts also contemplated and to the degree possible given Poway's geography and demographics, incorporated all of the criteria that was ultimately signed into law in 2019 in the FAIR MAPS Act, which were permissive factors at the time, that the City Council specifically took into account. Therefore, the current City Council districts are in full compliance with all the criteria established in California Elections Code. The Discussion section below describes changes in state legislation since the City converted to by-1 of 10
November 12, 2021, Item #9district elections, the required elements of the redistricting process, and the City Council's options moving forward in the process. Recommended Action: It is recommended that the City Council: 1) Set the remaining public hearing meeting dates for the Post 2020 Census Redistricting Process; and 2) Provide direction to staff/demographer to pursue the "balanced" option of maintaining the districts as they exist in the currently adopted district map or pursue a more comprehensive process to develop a new map Discussion: As described at the beginning of this report, the City of Poway's first by-district election was in 2018 with full conversion to by-district elections occurring in 2020. The current district map is attached for reference (Attachment A). Per California Elections Code, the City Council is required to update Council districts following the certification of the results of the 2020 decennial federal census, by ordinance, before April 17, 2022 (at least 205 days before the City's next regular election [i.e., November 8, 2022], where a City does not have a regular election occurring after January 1, 2022 and before July 1, 2022). (Elec. Code §§ 21601; 21602(a)(3).) Public Engagement Assembly Bill (AB) 849, enacted in 2019, known as the "Fair and Inclusive Redistrict for Municipalities and Political Subdivision" (FAIR MAPS) Act requires cities to take additional steps to increase public engagement in the redistricting process. It increases the number of required public hearings to four; provides for translated website materials and live translation services when requested in advance; mandates a dedicated redistricting webpage; and establishes noticing requirements. The FAIR MAPS Act also requires cities to make an asserted effort to alert media outlets and community groups about the process. The following requirements apply to the four public hearings, some requirements regarding drawing maps may not be directly applicable should the City Council indicate a preference to keep the current City Council district boundaries: 2 of 10 • At least one public hearing shall be held before the council draws a draft map or maps of the proposed new council boundaries. • At least two public hearings shall be held after the council has drawn a draft map or maps of the proposed new council boundaries. • At least one public hearing or public workshop shall be held on a Saturday, on a Sunday, or after 6 p.m. on a weekday, Monday through Friday. • The council may have City staff or a consultant conduct one or more public workshops in lieu of holding one of the four required public hearings
November 12, 2021, Item #9• If a public hearing is consolidated with a regular or special meeting of the council that includes other substantive agenda items, the public hearing shall begin at a fixed time regardless of its order on the agenda, except that the Council may first conclude any item being discussed or acted upon, including any associated public comment, when that time occurs. • The time of the public hearing shall be noticed to the public. • The council may establish an advisory redistricting commission to hold the required hearings instead of the council. • Public hearing buildings shall be accessible to persons with disabilities. The City has already established the redistricting webpage on the City's website, the web page address is www.poway.org/redistricting. Additionally, City staff notified the Poway News Chieftain about this public hearing, as well as published notice of the public hearing in Spanish in the El Latino Newspaper San Diego. Information about the public hearing was also emailed out the City's newsletter distribution list, as well as the distribution list for water and sewer customers. Information about future hearings will be posted online and distributed to same groups once the dates are set. Data and Map Analysis Anticipating the City would be going through the redistricting process following the release of the 2020 U.S. Census data, the adopted FY 2021-22 budget includes funds for a demographer to assist with the process. The City has engaged the services of NDC, the demographer used in 2017 when the City initially transitioned to by-district elections, to work on the 2021 redistricting process. Prior to this first public hearing, NDC completed an initial analysis of the changes from the 2010 U.S. Census to the 2020 U.S. Census and impacts on each of the districts in the currently adopted district map. Their findings are attached (Attachment B). Notably, N DC found that the City's current maximum population deviation, the difference between the most populous district and least populous district -is 7.95%. This value is well within the 10% threshold where a map is considered "presumptively constitutional," and therefore the districts do not need to be redrawn to comply with the federal equal population requirement. As described below, this is not the only requirement the map must comply with, however based on the relatively minor changes from 2010 to 2020, the City of Poway does have options relative to redistricting that many other cities do not have. The City's 2010 population was 47,811 and the 2020 California Adjusted Census population for Poway is 48,984. The City's 2020 U.S. Census population is 48,841, however for redistricting purposes, the State of California adjusts population numbers to account for things like prisoner population and individuals living in group homes. New Substantive Requirements for Redistricting A bit of legal context will be helpful to Council's understanding of the redistricting process before it. Since the City adopted its voting districts, there has been a material change in the law. The FAIR MAPS Act, mentioned earlier in this report, now requires stricter geographic continuity of districts. As before, the council districts must be "substantially equal in population," now based on the results of the 2020 U.S. Census. (Elec. Code § 21601 (a) ["Following each decennial federal census, and using that census as a basis, the council shall, by ordinance or resolution, adopt boundaries for any or all of the council districts of the city so that the council districts shall be substantially equal in population as 3 of 10
November 12, 2021, Item #9required by the United States Constitution"]; see also, subdiv. (a)(1 ).) The districts are also required to comply with the United States Constitution, the California Constitution, and the federal Voting Rights Act of 1965. (Id., subdiv. (a)(2).) What is different is the stricter priority given to previously permissive factors, such as contiguity, communities of interest, following natural barriers, and compactness, which are now mandatory "to the extent practicable." Accordingly, the council must adopt district boundaries using the following criteria, in the following order of priority: (1) To the extent practicable, council districts shall be geographically contiguous. Areas that meet only at the points of adjoining corners are not contiguous. Areas that are separated by water and not connected by a bridge, tunnel, or regular ferry service are not contiguous. [emph. added.] (2) To the extent practicable, the geographic integrity of any local neighborhood or local community of interest shall be respected in a manner that minimizes its division. A "community of interest" is a population that shares common social or economic interests that should be included within a single district for purposes of its effective and fair representation. Communities of interest do not include relationships with political parties, incumbents, or political candidates. (3) Council district boundaries should be easily identifiable and understandable by residents. To the extent practicable, council districts shall be bounded by natural and artificial barriers, by streets, or by the boundaries of the city. (4) To the extent practicable, and where it does not conflict with the preceding criteria in this subdivision, council districts shall be drawn to encourage geographical compactness in a manner that nearby areas of population are not bypassed in favor of more distant populations. The Council may not adopt council district boundaries for the purpose of favoring or discriminating against a political party. (Id., subdiv. (d).) In addition to NDC's analysis, the City Attorney's Office has also analyzed the current district map and determined it is in compliance with the FAIR MAPS Act criteria described above. While the FAIR MAPS Act criteria described above is now mandatory, the criteria existed in 2017 when the City of Poway went through the comprehensive process of developing and evaluating multiple district map options. The criteria strongly influenced the district map that was ultimately adopted. The current districts are geographically contiguous and to the extent practicable without splitting census tracts, there was a concerted effort to keep communities of interest together. When the City Council discussed the attributes of the districts, they expressed a desire to have two districts that represented both north and south Poway, they also wanted three of the four districts to include Poway Road in order to give the majority of Poway residents City Council representation on votes for future development projects along the Poway Road Corridor. So, while NDC's analysis shows there hasn't been significant deviations in the districts since they were adopted 2017, the current City Council districts also contemplated and incorporated the FAIR MAPS Act criteria. The City Council may recall that prior to Rutan & Tucker being selected to serve as Poway's City Attorney, Rutan & Tucker was originally hired in 2017 as Special Counsel to assist the City with the transition to by-district elections based on their expertise and experience representing other cities going through the transition to by-district elections. Next Steps 4of10
November 12, 2021, Item #9Public Engagement Staff is recommending the City Council set the remaining three required public hearing dates as follows: December 7, 2021 at 7:15 p.m. January 18, 2022 at 7:15 p.m. February 1, 2022 at 7:15 p.m. (tentative 1st reading of new map ordinance) Since the hearings are being held in conjunction with regular City Council meetings, the start time for the hearing needs to be set at a time certain, so members of the public know exactly what time the hearings on this item will begin. The information will be posted on the City's redistricting webpage, emailed to the enewsletter distribution list, as well as the water and sewer customer distribution list, and provided to the Poway News Chieftain. Public hearing notices will be posted in English in the Poway News Chieftain, as well as in Spanish in the El Latino Newspaper San Diego. District Map As previously described, both NOC and the City Attorney's Office have determined the current City Council District Map meets all required criteria prescribed in California Elections Code. The City Council has a few options in terms of developing the new district map. Staff is seeking direction from the City Council as to which option they want to pursue. 1) The City Council may accept NDC's analysis as presented and move forward with the required public hearings with the intention of maintaining the current district boundaries following receipt of public input. This option will cost $5,000 in consultant fees. 2) Alternatively, the City Council could direct staff to work with NOC to initiate a comprehensive process whereby new maps would be developed. This alternative could involve the demographer developing new map options for the City Council, the City Council appointing an independent redistricting commission to work with the demographer to develop new maps or providing the public with access to an online map drawing tool. This alternative would cost a minimum of $26,500, with additional fees based on the selection of things like a project website ($8,000), public online and paper mapping tools ($8,500), and per meeting charges ($3,250 in-person/$1,750 virtual) should the City Council request that the demographer attend future meetings either virtually or in-person. Environmental Review: This action is not subject to review under the California Environmental Quality Act Fiscal Impact: The Adopted FY 2021-22 budget include $5,000 for the 2021 Redistricting Process. Should the City Council direct staff to pursue the comprehensive redistricting process described in Option 2 above, additional funds would need to be appropriated depending upon which options the City Council selected from the menu of services described in Option 2. Public Notification: A notice announcing the first public hearing on the 2021 Post Census Redistricting Process was 5 of 10
November 12, 2021, Item #9published in the Poway News Chieftain and El Latino Newspaper San Diego on Thursday, November 11, 2021. Notice of this public hearing was also posted on the City of Poway website on Tuesday, November 9, 2021. Attachments: A. Current City Council District Map B. NDC City of Poway Redistricting Memo Reviewed/ Approved By: We~aserman Assistant City Manager 6 of 10 Reviewed By: Alan Fenstermacher City Attorney Approved By:
November 12, 2021, Item #9City of Poway 2017 Districting Council-Preferred Plan 133 2018 Elections: 1 & 3 2020 Elections: 2 & 4 / ---___,I ~--, '· ~ ~ 2 ~ ~ ·-i::i. ---. I Rd . -ro/'·v ~ "Cl ATTACHMENT A Map layers D Plan133 Water Area Streets Landmark Area _ River hi Comoration September 5, 2017 National Demograp cs ~t' ,
November 12, 2021, Item #9-~ NDC ationa1 Demographics Corporation To: From: Alan Fenstermacher, City Attorney Shannon Kelly and Douglas Johnson, NOC cc: Date: 10/30/2021 Re: City of Poway Redistricting Redistricting Overview: Every 10 years, local governments use new data from the Census to evaluate and potentially redraw their district lines to reflect how local populations have changed. Cities must ensure that their district boundaries continue to be in population balance. Redistricting is the process of adjusting City Council voting districts so that each district has substantially the same number of residents. Cities with voting districts are required to update their district election map following the release of the U.S. Census data. Cities that experience little or no change in district populations have the option to maintain existing disfrict boundaries as long as they comply with all state and federal redistricting criteria. Poway's Districting History Poway transitioned from an at-large to a by-district election process for Councilmembers in November 2018. The Mayor remains elected at-large. At the time, the City retained National Demographic Corporation (NOC) to develop voting district maps and facilitate public hearings. In October 2017, the City Council approved the current district election map. At the time of this effort, the most recently available population data was from the 2010 U.S. Census data with 2018 demographic estimates. This was standard for all jurisdictions that went through the transition to district elections in that timeframe. Now, however, the City must evaluate its voting districts based on the 2020 state-adjusted Census data. Poway Current Snapshot On September 27, 2021, the State of California posted its adjusted 2020 U.S. Census data. For California cities, these figures are the final numbers that must be used to determine if district boundaries need to be adjusted. NOC processed these numbers for the current Poway election districts (Attachment). NOC found that the City's current population deviation -the difference between the most populous and least populous districts -is 7.95%. This value is within the 10% threshold where a map is considered "presumptively constitutional," and thus the districts do not need to be redrawn to comply with the federal equal population requirement. 8 of 10 ATTACHMENT B
November 12, 2021, Item #9California Fair Maps Act In October 2019, the California legislature approved AB 849, the Fair and Inclusive Redistricting for Municipal and Political Subdivisions (FAIR MAPS) Act, which requires cities to ensure maps comply with set redistricting criteria. The act further outlines the specified steps a jurisdiction must take to encourage public participation of its residents and the deadlines for the adoption of new boundaries by a governing body. Specifically, the Fair Maps Act sets out criteria that all cities must use to evaluate their district maps, and the order in which they must be evaluated. They are: 1. Geographically contiguous 2. Undivided neighborhoods and "communities of interest" (Socio-economic geographic areas that should be kept together) 3. Easily identifiable boundaries 4. Compact (Do not bypass one group of people to get to a more distant group of people) Additionally, the legislation prohibits the discrimination against or favoring of any political party in the mapping process. Poway's Next Steps While the current Poway map is considered balanced from an equal population standpoint, the City Council must review the Fair Maps criteria. If the City Council finds the current districts meet the requirements of the Act, then the election district lines may be retained at the conclusion of the required public hearings and outreach. Please be aware that Poway should still conduct the four public hearings required by state law. The City has the option to consider alternative maps during those hearings, but may elect to focus only on the existing map. If this is the path that you decide to take, you can follow the "balanced" option in your NOC contract. The final election district map must be approved by April 17, 2022, to comply with election laws. 9 of 10 2 ATTACHMENT B
November 12, 2021, Item #9Poway -Current Districts (2020 Adjusted) District 1 2 3 4 Total 2020 2020 Census (Rawl 11,938 11,716 12,688 12,582 48,924 Deviation from ideal -293 -515 457 351 972 % Deviation -2.40% -4.21% 3.74% 2.87% 7.95% % I-lisp 20% 10% 18% 26% 18% 2020 Total Pop ¾NI-I White 54% 73% 62% 48% 59% % NI-I Black 2% 1% 2% 3% 2% % Asian-American 20% 12% 15% 19% 17% Total 8,459 8,597 9,332 8,140 34,529 ¾I-lisp 12% 5% 14% 16% 12% Citizen Voting Age Pop ¾NI-I White 70% 83% 69% 64% 72% ¾NI-I Black 2% 2% 4% 1% 2% % Asian/Pac.Isl. 14% 9% 12% 18% 13% Total 8,033 9,245 8,409 7,296 32,983 % Latino est. 13% 6% 11% 17% 11% Voter Registration (Nov % Spanish-Surnamed 12% 5% 10% 16% 11% % Asian-Surnamed 7% 6% 5% 7% 6% 2020) % Filioino-Surnamed 3% 1% 2% 3% 2% % NI-I White est. 76% 86% 79% 73% 79% % NI-I Black 2% 2% 4% 1% 2% Total 5,295 6,737 5,731 4,389 22,152 % Latino est. 11% 4% 8% 12% 8% Voter Turnout (Nov % Soanish-Surnamed 10% 4% 7% 11% 8% 2018) % Asian-Surnamed 5% 4% 4% 5% 4% % Filipino-Surnamed 2% 1% 2% 2% 2% % NI-I White est. 81% 89% 83% 80% 84% % NI-I Black 2% 2% 4% 1% 2% Total 7,023 8,403 7,432 6,213 29,071 % Latino est. 12% 5% 10% 16% 11% Voter Turnout (Nov % Spanish-Surnamed 11% 5% 9% 15% 10% 2020) % Asian-Surnamed 6% 6% 5% 7% 6% % Filipino-Surnamed 3% 1% 2% 3% 2% % NI-I White est. 77% 87% 80% 74% 80% % NI-I Black est. 2% 2% 4% 1% 2% ACS Pop. Est. Total 12,016 11,604 13,056 13,104 49,780 age0-19 25% 25% 24% 28% 26% Age age20-60 51% 46% 50% 54% 51% age60plus 24% 29% 26% 17% 24% Immigration immigrants 24% 14% 14% 29% 20% naturalized 66% 77% 63% 54% 63% english 76% 85% 78% 58% 74% Language spoken at home spanish 10% 5% 11% 21% 12% asian-lang 8% 5% 7% 11% 8% other Jang 6% 6% 4% 10% 7% Language Fluency Speaks Eng. "Less 10% 4% 10% 18% 10% than Verv Well" Education (among those hs-grad 33% 25% 38% 39% 34% bachelor 31% 39% 27% 26% 31% age 25+) graduatedegree 16% 26% 17% 12% 18% Child in Household child-underl 8 40% 34% 34% 42% 38% Pct of Poo. Age 16+ emoloved 63% 58% 60% 71% 63% income 0-25k 11% 3% 10% 15% 10% income 25-50k 11% 8% 14% 15% 12% Household Income income 50-7 5k 14% 10% 15% 15% 13% income 75-200k 47% 44% 43% 45% 45% income 200k-olus 18% 35% 18% 11% 20% single family 83% 99% 74% 75% 82% I-lousing Stats multi-family 17% 1% 26% 25% 18% rented 23% 8% 31% 39% 25% owned 77% 92% 69% 61% 75% Total population data from the California adjustment to the 2020 Decennial Census. Suma me-based Voter Registration and Turnout data from the Califomia Statewide Database. Latino \'Otcr registration and ntmout data arc Spanish-surname counts adjusted using Census Population Department undercount estimates. NI-I \Vhitc and NH Black registration and turnout counts cstim;ncd hr NOC. Citizen Voting Age Pop., Age, lmmi,b>t:.'ltion, and other demographics from the 2015-2019 American Community SurvC)' and Special Tabulation 5-ycar data. 10 of 10 ATTACHMENT B