CC MIN 02242022 - Laserfiche WebLink

a pie into four equal easy to understand pieces. He challenged the Council to declare for residents why any other plans would be a better option. Herb Ritter expressed his hope that all future district -elected Councilmembers will make decisions for the good of the entire city. He encouraged the Council to choose the best map based on the lowest population deviation, having four easy quadrants, having easily identifiable boundaries, following arterial streets to not divide neighborhoods, and staying away from gerrymandering to support current Councilmembers. He endorsed the Lime Plan for best following these criteria. He added, in the Lime Plan District 2 should be saved for a 2024 vote due to having the highest African-American and Asian - Pacific Islander (API) population with Districts 1 and 4 voting in 2022 when their current Councilmembers either term out or are up for reelection. Pamela Hardy Alpert endorsed the Lime Plan, echoing the comments of all of the previous speakers. She cited its ease of identification for residents and how easy it would be to defend in court if that were needed. She endorsed having Districts 1 and 3 vote in 2022. Mayor Brown stated she would let staff answer Ms. Aplert's inquiry about not including the Merritt property later in the meeting. Sandy Yamaoda endorsed the Yellow Map. She reported she resides in The Meadows and added her district would be cohesive. She commended how the Yellow Map divides downtown along Main Street and noted the population deviations are pretty good. Jill Buck did not endorse a single map and noted flaws in many of the maps under consideration. She noted the Yamaoda Map has the entire west side of the city standing as a single unwieldy district while the Blue and Purple Maps have the entire south side of the city in a single unwieldy district. She stated people naturally think about quadrants when they hear "four districts." She stated the Yellow Map uses too many residential streets as dividers providing jagged and confusing boundaries. She stated the Orange and Tangerine Plans lack the quadrant feel for their crisscrossing shapes and for having an excessive three districts representing downtown. She added the Tangerine and Orange Maps may have political allure for keeping all of the current Councilmembers separated but decried this as being a potential reason for adoption. She stated the Lime Plan makes sense to her. Scott Miner endorsed the comments made by Mr. Hirst in support of the Lime Plan. He lauded its simplistic north -south, east -west element. He reported his initial vision for a perfect map would have split downtown into four quadrants in a similar manner and the Lime Plan comes closest. He suggested each district could receive equal quantities of the future growth stemming from the Housing Element to help spread it around the city and not concentrate growth in a single area. He added the Lime Plan would ensure two districts are impacted directly by matters related to Interstate 580, 1-680, and the City of Livermore, instead of just a single directly concerned Councilmember. He encouraged whoever ends up with his Shadow Cliffs neighborhood should look into refurbishing that East Bay Regional Park site. PUBLIC HEARING Receive input from the community regarding boundaries and composition of districts to be established for City Councilmember district -based elections pursuant to Elections Code Section 10010 and provide direction regarding final district boundaries and the proposed sequence of elections Mayor Brown noted there was strong public support for the Lime and Green Plans. City Attorney Dan Sodergren stated consultant Michael Wagaman, Principal of Wagaman Strategies, has a presentation to make before the City Council asks questions. City Council Minutes Page 2 of 14 February 24, 2022