CC MIN 02242022 - Laserfiche WebLink

jurisdiction, two at -large incumbents were drawn into the same district but with different terms. He stated they ran against each other for the district seat and the person in the middle of their term won, creating a Council vacancy. He added had the victor lost, they would have still finished their term as an at -large. Mr. Willis clarified the Council needs to consider which members are termed out so there would still be two districts up for election every two years along with the Mayor. He clarified the City would lock in the districts up for reelection in the sequencing. He added if no Councilmember lives in a district being elected in 2022 it is considered an open seat. He stated if two Councilmembers live in the same district the situation Mr. Wagaman described applies depending on whether or not the one terming out in 2024 decides to run against the one terming out in 2022. He clarified the sequencing of the districts is not being aligned to specific people. Mr. Wagaman noted this is a difficult concept. He clarified there will be three elections in both 2022 and 2024, one for Mayor and two for Councilmembers. He stated there is a possibility there could be three Councilmember vacancies in 2022 from his above scenario of two Councilmembers living in the same district but noted the extra vacancy would be for only a two-year term and there would still be the regular cycle of elections in 2024. He confirmed there could be four of the five seats turning over in 2022 depending on the districts, residences, sequences, and individual decisions, but the City would not be permanently locked into this situation. In response to Mayor Brown's inquiry, Mr. Wagaman confirmed the potential two-year vacancy would be considered at -large and not have to be appointed from the unrepresented district because the district would not exist for electoral purposes until 2024. In response to Councilmember Narum's inquiries, Mr. Wagaman clarified the law calls for the deviation from the largest district to the smallest be no more than 10% but it does not mean a single district cannot be 5% more than the others. He added all of his plans are within the 10% deviation. He confirmed there is no obligation to pick the plan with the lowest deviation. He noted it is the highest - ranked criterion, but added it needs to be balanced against the other criteria. Mayor Brown reported Mr. Wagaman recommends asking the Councilmembers to list their top three maps. Councilmember Arkin stated this process is not easy and added having even populations overall is different than having equal community of interest populations. She added there are also factors of compactness, growth potential, and other elements. She added school boundaries would have been nice but those proved to not be easy and added those boundaries are being changed as well. She added starting in 2022 the city will be divided between two State Assembly districts and two Alameda County Board of Supervisors districts. She stated the Tangerine Plan and Orange Map are her top two choices and she does not have a third favorite. Councilmember Balch stated his top three choices are the Lime, Currant, and Cherry Plans. He stated no plan better equally divides the population than the Lime Plan and it is also the most easily identifiable to the public. He noted the public speakers commended having four quadrants radiating from a single point. He added the districts are contiguous following major arterial roads and the Arroyo Valle. He added the Lime Plan lends itself well to preventing manipulation by future Councils. He added the Lime Plan makes sense for having the lowest deviation at 1.8% plus the high 37% API population in District 2. He added for sequencing, it would be easy to inform residents which side of the city is up for election in any given year. Councilmember Narum stated her preference is for the Lime, Cherry, and Currant Plans. She noted the Lime Plan has the smallest deviation with the next closest being the Tangerine Plan at more than double the Lime Plan's, adding this is the most important criterion. She added the Lime Plan is contiguous and could not be more easily understandable. She added the neighborhoods are intact in the Lime Plan. She stated the Tangerine Plan is odd in the Bondi Ranch area. Noting even the City Council Minutes Page 5 of 14 February 24, 2022