HomeMy WebLinkAboutItem No. 09 Transition from At-Large to By-District ElectionsText File
City of Lake Elsinore 130 South Main Street
Lake Elsinore, CA 92530
www.lake-elsinore.org
File Number: ID# 17-453
Agenda Date: 12/12/2017 Status: Consent AgendaVersion: 1
File Type: ReportIn Control: City Council / Successor Agency
Agenda Number: 9)
Page 1 City of Lake Elsinore Printed on 12/7/2017
Report to City Council
To:Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
From: Susan M. Domen, MMC, City Clerk
Barbara Leibold, City Attorney
Date: December 12, 2017
Subject: Transition from At-Large to By-District Elections
Recommendation
Conduct the second of four public hearings to receive public comments regarding the transition from
at-large to by-district elections for members of the City Council.
Background
On November 7th, the City Council authorized the transition of the City’s election system from an At-
Large to a By-District. On November 28th, the Council conducted the first of four required public hearings
to receive public input, at which time no one came forward to speak.
Discussion
The transition process is set forth in the Elections Code. District boundary maps will be drawn by a
professional demographer in consultation with the City Clerk and City Attorney based on the criteria in
the law and public input. Community input is important to the districting process and all residents are
encouraged to attend hearings to provide public input. The hearings are publicly noticed and
information about the districting process is also provided on the City’s website. Two public hearings are
required prior to the maps being drawn and two public hearings are required after the maps and
sequencing are published for the specified time period.
The remaining tentative schedule for the public hearings is as follows:
Staff is seeking input on the criteria and factors that go into the drawing of maps of single-member
voting districts, the composition of the districts, and other matters related to the election of members of
the City Council.
Public Meetings Date
Council Meeting / Public Hearing #2 December 12, 2017
Council Meeting / Public Hearing #3 January 4, 2018
Council Meeting / Public Hearing #4 January 9, 2018
Adoption of Ordinance January 23, 2018
Please note that in determining the districts, special consideration shall be given to the following:
Each council district shall contain a nearly equal population;
A districting plan shall be drawn in a manner that complies with the CVRA and Federal Voting
Rights Act; and
Council districts shall not be drawn with race as the predominate factor.
In addition to these mandatory state and federal law requirements, other factors may be considered in
drafting district boundary lines. Examples of such factors include:
Council districts may take into consideration communities of interest;
Council district may take into account the boundaries of other jurisdictions (such as school
districts) within the City;
Council districts boundaries should follow visible natural and man-made geographical and
topographical features as much as possible;
Council districts known to be in areas of higher-than-average projected population growth in the
years immediately following districting may be under populated as permitted by law;
Each council district should include public facilities to the extent feasible; and
Each council district should include commercial interests to the extent feasible.
The above criteria are examples only, and not necessarily applicable or appropriate for the City of Lake
Elsinore. The public is encouraged to provide input on some or all of these additional criteria options,
and may also provide input on other criteria not mentioned above, including the number of districts to
be created. The City Council will be informed by the public input and may choose to include some, all,
or none of these additional criteria, or may choose to develop alternative criteria that the City Council
believes are applicable to the City when selecting a districting plan.
Fiscal Impact
There is no specific fiscal impact associated with the proposed recommendation. New State law
provides for the transition of At-Large to By-District elections via the Ordinance process. Costs for the
City’s General Municipal election are budgeted in the City’s operating budget every two years based
on an estimate received from the Riverside County Registrar of Voters.