2021 Redistricting Roundup

News

Introduction 

Redistricting is the process by which voting or legislative districts are adjusted or modified to reflect population changes in the decennial U.S. Census. Each respective district is required to be roughly equal in size and as populations change, so do the populations of those districts. Redistricting makes them even to reflect the new population numbers.  

Redistricting is most commonly thought of as focusing on Congressional districts; however, it occurs at the county and local levels as well. Each of our member counties will be undertaking its own redistricting efforts to ensure that each Board of Supervisors member represents about the same number of constituents. State law requires each county to engage communities in the redistricting process by holding public meetings and doing public outreach, including to non-English-speaking communities. As California prepares for the next Census 2020 release in August, known as the redistricting file, county redistricting commissions are now beginning their redistricting activities. 

SCAG is aiding our member counties by producing this resource guide for our member counties’ redistricting efforts. This guide will consolidate information for each county’s Redistricting Commission to keep citizens and stakeholders abreast of developments throughout the process. We will update this resource guide as new information becomes available. 

Imperial County 

The County of Imperial approved the procurement of a consultant to administer and facilitate their redistricting process at a recent weekly board of supervisors meeting. The County of Imperial is also accepting applications for its Redistricting Commission which can be found here.   

SCAG has reached out to the County for more information about their redistricting process and will provide updates as they become available.  

Los Angeles County 

The Los Angeles County Citizens Redistricting Commission is principally responsible for drawing the new redistricted boundaries. In the past, the Board of Supervisors appointed an advisory Boundary Redistricting Committee to study proposed changes and could make revisions before adopting the final districted boundaries. Today, the L.A. County CRC is independent of the Board of Supervisors as a result of California legislation that passed in 2016. The County’s Community colleges will want to be involved because periodic redistricting can help to: 

Ensure our County’s diverse population and communities have opportunities to have their voices heard 

Enable voters to elect representatives of their choosing and not draw Supervisorial Districts in such a way as to dilute fair opportunities  

Have Supervisors be responsive to the preferences and needs of residents through public policies to improve lives 

The Los Angeles County Citizens Redistricting Commission is launching 10 public hearings to solicit ideas on how to adjust the district boundaries for electing the Board of Supervisors for the next decade. Each hearing will focus on a specific portion of the County.  

Details about these public hearings at: https://redistricting.lacounty.gov/public-hearings/ 

For more information about redistricting in general, visit: https://redistricting.lacounty.gov/  

Orange County 

In Orange County, the Board of Supervisors is responsible for drawing supervisorial districts. Redistricting is done using U.S. Census data, which is normally released by March 31, 2021, but the U.S. Census Bureau has indicated there is a delay due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the data will be released by September 30, 2021. For the County of Orange, the redistricting process must be completed by December 15, 2021. 

Citizens are invited to participate in the redistricting process by testifying at public hearings and workshops. The Board of Supervisors will reach out to local media to publicize the redistricting process. The County will make a good faith notify community groups of various kinds about the redistricting process. Public workshops will be provided in applicable languages if residents submit a request in advance. The Board of Supervisors will notify the public about redistricting workshops, post maps online before adoption, and create a dedicated web page for all relevant information about the redistricting process. 

To speak on an item, complete a Speaker Request Form(s) identifying the item(s) and deposit the completed form(s) in the box to the left of the podium. When addressing the Board, it is requested that you state your name and city of residence for the record. Members of the public desiring to speak should address the Board as a whole through the Chair. Speakers may address the Board on up to three occasions, with three minutes allotted to the speaker per occasion. The Board has the discretion to alter the amount of time per speaker at the Board meeting. 

The next redistricting Board hearing to receive public input on where district lines should be drawn will be held on Tuesday, July 27, 2021. More information about upcoming hearings can be found at https://cob.ocgov.com/2021-redistricting-agenda  

To find out more about Orange County’s Redistricting, please visit https://cob.ocgov.com/2021-redistricting

Additionally, questions or comments may be sent to redistricting@ocgov.com and a member of the redistricting team will respond.  

Riverside County 

In Riverside County, the County Board of Supervisors decides the district boundaries. The Riverside County Board of Supervisors has selected the Riverside County Planning Commission to draw the new supervisorial district boundaries. The Board of Supervisors will also receive at least one redistricting proposal from the Advisory Redistricting Commission, also comprised of the County Planning Commission.   

The board shall hold at least one public hearing on any proposal to adjust the boundaries of that district prior to a public hearing at which the board votes regarding the proposal.  

For more information, please visit https://rivco.org/about-county/county-boards-committees-and-commissions/county-redistricting-efforts.  

Note: Per the Riverside Press-Enterprise in May 2021, Assemblymember Cervantes has introduced legislation (SB594) to create an independent commission to draw the Riverside County supervisorial districts. The county has been proactively reaching out to the community via its Municipal Advisory Committees (MACs) and has hired ESRI for its redistricting software redistricting effort and plans to be ready to reach out to the public as soon as census data is available. 

San Bernardino County 

The San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors is responsible for drawing supervisorial districts. The Board of Supervisors has adopted an ordinance establishing an Advisory Redistricting Commission that is required to recommend to the Board of Supervisors a minimum of two possible supervisorial district maps.  Redistricting will be based on the 2020 U.S. Census data, which is anticipated to be released to the State on September 30, 2021. 

San Bernardino County has not yet set public meeting dates.  

For more information, please visit: https://sbcountyredistricting.com/  

Ventura County 

In Ventura County, members of the public are encouraged to provide input to the Board of Supervisors regarding their communities of interest. The Board will be holding Public Outreach Workshops in early September to collect public input regarding their communities. In addition, members of the public may develop and submit their own redrawn district plans for consideration by Board. Ventura County is developing a public mapping tool for the public to submit their Community of Interest maps and district plans once more Census data has been released.

The Board encourages members of the public to consider legal requirements and traditional districting principles when providing input or submitting their own redrawn district plans for consideration. Public Comments can be submitted to the Board by email or through the county redistricting website.

The next Community Meeting is scheduled to take place from 6:00 to 8:00 pm on September 9 at the Civic Arts Plaza in Thousand Oaks. For more information on public participation during the Ventura Country redistricting process please visit https://www.ventura.org/redistricting/participation/

For more information on redistricting in Ventra County in general please visit https://www.ventura.org/redistricting/

This post will be updated as new information from our member counties is released.