The city of National City has scheduled four public hearings and a community workshop designed to engage residents and gather feedback as it begins the transition from at-large elections in which every resident votes for representatives across the city to district-based voting in which residents vote solely for representatives who live in their assigned district.
Following scrutiny by members of the Filipino-American and Asian Pacific Islanders communities, National City voted in December 2020 to establish districts to uphold the 2001 California Voting Rights Act which prohibits the use of any election system “that impairs the ability of a protected class to elect candidates of its choice or its ability to influence the outcome of an election.”
National City’s districting process begins this week and will be finalized in late March when city council adopts final district maps.
The first public hearing where members of the community can provide input was scheduled for Feb. 3 and a community workshop is scheduled two days later for Feb. 5.
Council Member Mona Rios praised city staff for sending out information about the workshop to the community, but asked why they had not sent a similar notice about the first public hearing.
“In addition to social media and the website, we’re posting this information in newspapers of record including in Spanish and Filipino news, and reaching out to members of the community to let them know these meetings are taking place. Working with Falcon Strategies, we’re trying to cover all those bases,” Assistant City Manager Tony Winney said.
Following the Feb. 3 first public hearing and the Feb. 5. community workshop, a second public hearing is scheduled for Feb. 22 from 3-4 p.m. where maps will be introduced for the first time.
The City has hired a demographic consultant from Sacramento-based firm Redistricting Insights to steer staff and the community through the process of drafting district maps.
During the Feb. 1 meeting, Councilman Jose Rodriguez asked when an interactive mapping tool will be available for residents.
Winney said the tool should be available during the first week of February, along with video instructions in English, Spanish and Tagalog on how to use the tool so any resident will be able to submit a map to the city clerk’s office.
“Residents will have the option of using the online mapping tool or they can use a hard copy, paper map if they so choose,” Winney said.
Typically, districts are geographically contiguous, contain entire census tracts and loosely follow boundaries like highways, railroad lines and community landmarks. They must be equal within 10% of their population and drawn up in a way that minimizes division and facilitates cohesive voting by residents with shared interests, such as a similar cultural or socio-economic background.
Winney confirmed census data and other pertinent information will be embedded in the online mapping tool.
A third public hearing to continue vetting potential maps is scheduled for March 5 from 9:30-10:30 a.m. and a final public hearing is scheduled for March 15 from 4-5 p.m. where district maps will be adopted.
Those districts will remain in place until 2032, when they will be re-evaluated based in part on national census data that is gathered every 10 years.
District-based elections are staggered, with half the seats being voted on every two years, so the first vote, slated for 2022, will only affect two out of the four future districts.
“I think it’s important, as we put out information, that we give out information on procedure but also the fact that half of National City will not be able to vote for a council member this November. They need to know exactly what we’re getting into,” Councilmember Ron Morrison said.
Morrison and Rios will reach the end of their term with the November vote. Rodriguez and City Council member Marcus Bush will reach the end of their term in Nov. 2024.
The mayoral seat will still be elected at large every four years. Current mayor Alejandra Sotelo-Solis will reach the end of the current term in November.
Visit www.nationalcityca.gov/districting for more information.
