Recommend the City Council conduct Public Hearing 2 - a hearing to receive and consider input concerning district map boundaries and composition of voting districts.

The public hearing is the second of two public hearings to inform the community about the districting process, present options, and receive public input regarding the boundaries and composition of voting districts prior to the City's independent demographer drafting district maps.  At the conclusion of the hearing, the City Council will provide direction to the City's independent demographer regarding the drafting of maps.  Maps will be prepared for discussion at the October 23, 2019 public hearing. 

The transition to by-district elections will be implemented for the 2020 general municipal election. The City Council is committed to the importance of openness in the process and consideration of future norms and values for the City Council. They are also committed to the need to perform the districting process well.   

The legally required criteria that apply to creation of the districts are as follows:

• Each council district shall contain nearly equal population;

• District maps shall be drawn in a manner that complies with state and federal constitutions, the Federal Voting Rights Act, and state law;

• Consistent with the principles established by the United States Supreme Court in Shaw v. Reno, 509 U.S. 630 (1993), council districts shall not be drawn with race as the predominant factor;

• Each council district shall be contiguous, meaning that there are no islands or parts of the district that are not attached to the whole.

The City Council may consider other criteria.  Additional criteria that have been used in other communities to define districts include:

• Keeping communities of interest intact. Communities of interest are contiguous populations that share common social and economic interests.  Possible community features/boundaries could be: 
  • Neighborhoods;
  • Culture;
  • Transportation (natural neighborhood dividing lines such as highways and railroad tracks);
  • Parks;
  • School district boundaries, etc., undivided by a district boundary, to the extent feasible; 
  • Shared goals of improvement to area, historic resources, neighborhood landmarks;
  • Common issues or neighborhood activities; and
  • Employment or lack thereof and economic opportunities

The community is encouraged to provide input on some, or all, of the criteria options.  When preparing draft district maps, the City's independent demographer must satisfy all legally required criteria and will then apply all City-directed criteria.  The City Council must balance criteria, and may choose to include some, all, or no additional criteria.

At the conclusion of the public hearing, City Council will provide direction to staff and the independent demographer regarding the criteria for preparation of the maps.  The draft maps will be published and posted on the City's webpage on October 16, 2019.  Following posting and publishing, two meetings will be held on October 23 and November 6, 2019 to discuss and revise the draft maps and to discuss the sequencing of elections.

The public is also encouraged to provide input via email to cityclerk@roseville.ca.us.  Written input may also be dropped off or mailed to the City Clerk at 311 Vernon Street, Roseville, CA 95678.  For questions, call the City Clerk at 916-774-5200.  Tools to draw maps are available at www.DrawRoseville.org. 

The fiscal impact is estimated to be between $35,000.00 to $50,000.00.  This includes an increased and recurring cost from the Placer County Registrar of Voters for conducting by-district elections, as opposed to an at-large election.  Costs also include the contract for the demographer which was approved at the September 4, 2019 City Council meeting with a cost not to exceed $30,750.00.  There will also be costs for time spent by the City Clerk Department and the City Attorney's Office.  Funds are available in the City Manager's Contingency budget to pay for the costs.

The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) does not apply to activities that will not result in a direct or reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment, or is otherwise not considered a project as defined by CEQA Statute §21065 and CEQA State Guidelines §1506(c)(3) and §15378.  Staff's request for public input and information on by-district elections meets the above criteria and is not subject to CEQA.  No additional environmental review is required.  

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Dominick Casey, City Manager