The lines are drawn, the map is set and the city of Chula Vista is officially moving toward district elections as the City Council on Tuesday unanimously approved a final districting plan.
For the first time in the city’s 103-year existence, council members will be elected by voters in separate voting districts, with the mayor and city attorney continuing to be elected citywide.
“This is really a historic day, a historic event in the history of the city of Chula Vista,” said Councilwoman Pat Aguilar, noting the significance of approving the districting map. “The people have spoken and this is democracy in action.”
Voters passed Proposition B in November 2012 to move from at-large elections to district-only elections starting in 2016.
Edward Aparis, one of the leaders for the Asian Pacific Islander community group, urged council members to approve the Districting Commission’s final map.
“For the API community we support whole heartedly the Districting Commission’s recommended plan, the commission has taken care of all community voices and has been mindful of the legal criteria,” he said.
“How you vote will speak to generations of leaders like myself, not just in the API community but for all communities and groups in Chula Vista.”
Tino Martinez, president of Southwest Chula Vista Civic Association, also asked the council to approve the plan.
“I really believe it’s going to bring more representation, more accountability to the person whom we elect,” he said. “It is easier to vet a candidate in your community rather than all five seats.”
The Districting Commission formed last July with the job of splitting the city of Chula Vista into council districts.
In doing so they held numerous public workshops and outreach meetings and, with the help of a consultant, drafted the district boundaries.
The commission used 2010 Census data in crafting the district lines.
It was a task chairman Jerome Torres called “arduous.”
The four electoral districts have a population of about 60,000 each with two districts in the west side and two in the east.
District 1 makes up northeast Chula Vista sector and starts from Terra Nova Shopping Center going east past Telegraph Canyon Road.
Northwest Chula Vista district 2 encompasses central Chula Vista, downtown and extends out toward L Street to Paseo del Rey, then curls up to H Street and comes back west toward Interstate 805.
District 3 covers part of Interstate 805 along Telegraph Canyon Road, with the boundaries coming up Paseo del Rancho to H Street. Then the boundaries come back to La Media, back to Telegraph Canyon Road and back down to Hunte Parkway. This district also includes the Southwestern College area south of Olympic Parkway.
The fourth district keeps Southwest Chula Vista intact. The district lines stretch from Interstate 805 to the bay and include the Montgomery area.
In numbering the districts, the seven-member commission chose two district areas that would be up for election in 2016.
After hearing testimony from residents in the southeast and southwest who claimed their neighborhoods have historically been underrepresented, the commission randomly selected their districts 3 and 4 for election.
A new districting commission will form in 2021 when a new Census is out; it will be responsible for forming new district boundaries.
“Being the first commission is always the hardest because you’re setting a precedent for later commissions,” Torres said in an interview.
