CC MIN 01042022 - Laserfiche WebLink

The fifth criterion is having understandable boundaries easily identifiable to residents such as a river or a certain City street. He reported the sixth criterion is compactness. He explained State law does not favor abstract shapes bypassing one area of the population for a more distant one. He noted compactness is a lower-rated criterion because there may be reasons to have oddly-shaped districts based upon higher-ranked criteria. Mr. Wagaman advised the goals are to divide Pleasanton into districts of roughly equal size, focus on traditional criteria of contiguous districts with understandable boundaries, ensure compliance with the CVRA and federal Voting Rights Act, and not use race as the predominant factor. Mr. Wagaman reported the primary data source is the 2020 census with the secondary data source being the American Community Survey (ACS) which is a monthly sample averaged over five years. He stated Pleasanton has 907 census blocks averaging 88 people, 55 census block groups averaging 1,453 people, and 21 census tracts, averaging 3,804 people. He noted the districting process cannot break up a census block. He reported, in addition to a version with all 907 census blocks, the public map designing website also splits the City into 53 slices he created by combining multiple census blocks into average populations of 1,507 with understandable boundaries. Tom Willis, attorney with Olson Remcho LLP, advised many other area cities have converted to districts through the Safe Harbor provision in the CVRA as Pleasanton has. In response to Mayor Brown, Mr. Willis clarified the CVRA virtually mandates conversion from at-large elections to district elections due to a very low burden of proof of discrimination by plaintiffs. Mayor Brown opened the public hearing. Sandy reported she lives in the northwest part of the City and wondered what would happen if no one in her district wanted to run for City Council. Kaavya Reddy requested the process be data-driven with public input. She inquired if there would be a volunteer public commission. She noted the opportunities to comment at upcoming City Council meetings. In response to Mayor Brown, City Attorney Sodergren confirmed everything throughout the process, including the maps submitted by residents, will be publicly available on the City's website. He advised public outreach is planned. Kathleen Jones expressed concerns over the criteria to divide Pleasanton into four districts. In response to Mayor Brown, Mr. Wagaman clarified having four districts is based upon the size of the City Council. He advised the criteria for how to draw the districts are spelled out in the State law and are not something decided by the City Council. Mayor Brown closed the public hearing. Councilmember Testa reported her biggest concern is confusion over an unnecessary process for the City. She noted the Councilmembers all agree on not wanting districts. She explained the City had no choice due to the litigation against almost every city in the State and noted the City Council will follow through with the process as prescribed by law. In response to Councilmember Narum, Mr. Wagaman clarified for purposes of determining if the districts are of equal size they are required to use the 2020 census as a marker. He advised they can consider areas they know will grow faster than others and leave this district slightly smaller so long as it City Council Minutes Page 3 of 10 January 4. 2022