BACKGROUND
Below are excerpts from a memo presented to the Placer County Board of Supervisors at their May 11, 2021 by Jane Christensen, Placer County Assistant Chief Executive Officer. This information requires no action by the Roseville County Council as it is informational only.
The United States Constitution requires a count every ten (10) years of everyone residing in the United States. Information from the U.S. Census is used to help determine where to locate schools, daycare centers, roads/public transportation, hospitals, and other facilities, and is used in making decisions regarding business growth and housing needs. Census data is also used for geographically defining state legislative districts, which initiates a “redistricting” process that begins in the year following a Census. Additionally, U.S. Census data allows county officials to realign supervisorial districts in their counties, considering shifts in population growth since the last Census and assuring equal representation for their constituents in compliance with the “one-person, one-vote” principle of the Voting Rights Act.
The California Elections Code provides basic criteria and process requirements the Board is required to consider in redistricting supervisorial districts. In addition to the Voting Rights Act, consideration is given to the following factors in order of priority: (1) geographic integrity of any local neighborhood or local communities of interest, (2) geographic integrity of any cities or census designated places, (3) easily identifiable and understandable districts bound by natural and artificial barriers, including streets and boundaries of the county when practicable, and (4) encouraging geographical compactness so that nearby areas of population are not bypassed in favor of more distant populations.
At its January 26, 2021 meeting, the Board of Supervisors reviewed a proposed 2021 redistricting timeline. Then, at the February 9, 2021 meeting, the Board approved an updated timeline and authorized the County Planning Commission to serve as the Advisory Redistricting Commission. The Board also directed staff to initiate work efforts to develop a plan for Placer County supervisorial districts in accordance with State and Federal law. At that time, staff outlined the new laws and requirements for the 2021 process and highlighted the challenges of the then-anticipated federal Census Bureau final data delays which inform map redistricting efforts. These delays, coupled with the state deadlines for county redistricting maps, would result in a significantly compressed timeline for community involvement/outreach over the ensuing year.
Updates from the February 2021 Placer County Board of Supervisors (BOS) Report:
Since the February BOS report, there have been several developments impacting the 2021 Placer County redistricting process and timeline, as summarized below:
- The Federal Census Bureau has announced final data will be provided to the State of California by late summer – slightly earlier than last reported but still much later than the traditional spring data receipt timeframe.
- Consistent with past practice, the State then takes approximately 30 days to review the data to adjust for incarcerated populations before transmitting data to the counties.
- With County final data receipt now anticipated late September, staff was very concerned with the compressed timeline/process, especially given the State’s deadline for County redistricting maps, which necessitates Board map approval by ordinance by November 15 (30 days to be effective by current State deadline of December 15).
- Taken together, these delays would allow the County weeks rather than months to create draft maps, obtain public input, draw final maps, and submit them for County Board of Supervisors’ approval – a challenging timeline resulting in a compressed window for public map review.
Concerned with the practical impacts of these delays on our Placer County redistricting process, staff worked with Shaw, Yoder, Antwih, Schmelzer & Lange (SYASL), state lobbyists, to advise the Senate Elections and Constitutional Amendment Committee of these challenges. In response, SB 594 (Glazer) has since been advanced to address these compressed timeline issues and provide counties relief in the deadline to redistrict County supervisorial district boundaries. At this writing, SB 594 is moving forward in the legislative process, with final action anticipated before summer. A CEO letter expressing support for this measure is attached, dated April 9, 2021. Also attached is an April 21 letter expressing similar concerns by the CA State Association of Counties (CSAC), the CA Association of Special Districts (CASD), the League of CA Cities (CalCities), Rural County Representatives of CA (RCRC), and Urban Counties of CA (UCC).
Additionally, and in response to increasing public inquiries on the 2021 redistricting process and timeline, County staff has prepared a County redistricting website to provide additional information (www.placer.ca.gov/redistricting). While we anticipate additional updates will be published in the coming months, the current site includes information on:
- the anticipated public meeting schedule for the Advisory Redistricting Commission,
- frequently asked questions (FAQs),
- a mapping hub to provide feedback, access data and view maps when available, and
- the opportunity to sign-up to receive further updates as the process and timeline evolve, pending state legislative action.
This will be a useful resource for interested parties until such time outreach efforts get underway this summer.
Placer County Community Outreach Plans:
For prior redistricting efforts in 2001 and 2011, the County’s community outreach included information-sharing with area cities, special districts, school districts, Chambers of Commerce, and Municipal Advisory Committees (MACs). For 2021, staff plans to conduct targeted outreach to cities and special districts such as the Placer County Water Agency, especially as its boundaries are co-terminus with supervisorial district boundaries, as well as hearings with the Advisory Redistricting Commission.. Given the still-compressed timeline, other community outreach plans include convening sub-regional town halls (East Placer, Mid-Placer, South Placer), similar to the 2019 Charter Review Committee outreach process, inviting other key stakeholders and ensuring public input is sought in ways that are safe and consistent within current State Covid-19 guidance.
Additionally, the County will provide opportunities to inform the redistricting maps through surveys and public testimony to allow community members to identify geographic areas with common links based upon economic or social interests. The effort to identify communities of interest will also include support from the Placer Counts Coalition, which supported the Census outreach effort in 2020. Community outreach efforts will predominantly occur over the summer months (in advance of Census final data receipt this fall) to inform interested parties on the process, milestones, and opportunities for input once map alternatives are available for review/comment.
The timeline for these efforts – based on what is known/anticipated at this writing, is presented below.
Revised 2021 Census Process & Timeline (as of May 11, 2021):
Jan 26 & Feb 9 Board Review/Approval of 2021 Redistricting Process
Feb – May 2021 Staff Analysis of Preliminary Census Data
Staff Development of Preliminary Boundary Map Alternatives
Staff Advocacy for SB 594 on State Map Deadlines/Requirements
2021 Redistricting Process/Timeline Update to BOS
June 2021 Advisory Redistricting Commission Hearing (tentatively set for June 24)
July – Sept 2021 Pre-Final Data Community Outreach/Subregional Informational Mtgs
Fall 2021 Advisory Redistricting Commission Hearings (dates TBD)
Nov - Dec 2021 BOS Consideration/Action on Revised Boundary Map
Early 2022 Anticipated State Deadline (revised per SB 594) for Revised Boundary Map
The above revised timeline allows for the completion of the Placer County 2021 redistricting effort with ample opportunities for community input/participation, Advisory Redistricting Commission hearings, and Board review/approval, in compliance with Federal/State requirements and the unfortunately compressed timeline due to U.S. Census Bureau final data delays.