The carving of Anaheim into single-member council districts will take on a more distinct form tomorrow evening: tThe demographer hired by the City of Anaheim to help craft six single-member council districts will unveil three draft maps at the July 1 meeting of the Advisory Committee on Electoral Districts.
From the City of Anaheim:
City Council Voting Districts Take Shape
Revisions continue through the Summer
ANAHEIM, Calif. — (June 30, 2015) Three draft voting district maps will be unveiled Wednesday as the City and community take the next step to shape Anaheim’s future.
The draft maps will be presented to the public and the Advisory Committee on Electoral Districts by Justin Levitt, the City of Anaheim’s demographer. The presentation is the next step in an ongoing process as Anaheim works toward a historic election milestone in 2016 that will see City Council members elected by districts.
These are the first set of draft maps that will be presented for public comment. The City’s demographer has used demographic data, legal criteria, Committee direction and community input to develop the proposed boundaries for six City Council districts.
The community is encouraged to attend the meeting to view and comment on the maps.
- When: Wednesday, July 1, 6:30 p.m.
- Where: City Hall, 200 S. Anaheim Blvd., Anaheim
- Location: Council Chambers, first floor
As part of Anaheim’s districting process, the City’s demographer will provide hands-on mapping assistance to residents one hour prior and immediately following the meeting. Community members are encouraged to submit their own maps of the six districts through July 31.
Additional public meetings will be held through September to solicit input to further refine the district maps. An Advisory Committee composed of five retired Superior Court judges will then recommend a boundary map, which will be presented to the City Council by Oct. 6.
The City Council will hold three public hearings before the end of the year and finalize the six City Council voting districts by Dec. 31, 2015.
This change will mark the first time in the City’s 150-year history that Anaheim residents will select their City Council Members from districts, instead of from across the city at large. Beginning with the 2016 elections, each of six newly drawn districts will elect its own City Council Member who must reside within that district. For more information, the Committee’s meeting calendar and to view public district maps, visit www.anaheim.net/districts.
I hope the organizers of this redistricting process will go out of their way to implement the technological means whereby EVERY ANAHEIM RESIDENT can submit their feedback at the early stages and all stages of this process. Specifically, the City should set up dialog box on the Anaheim.net homepage to encourage residents to make comments. Additionally, inserts inside the mailed copies of the utility bill could be helpful, asking for feedback. When residents call any of our city of Anaheim governmental departments, a quick message asking for feedback on the redistricting issue, could be incorporated. There are a lot of various methods to get the word out. As a resident of Anaheim since 1956, I think this districting is a vitally important action on the part of the city and it definitely has very big implications as to how our city government will vote in future meetings. For the city of Anaheim it could be akin to 5-4 decisions from our U.S. Supreme Court. The importance of this action by the city justifies the extra cost to make sure all residents can offer feedback. Not everybody can attend the meetings physically due to work, illness, etc. Given this, residents throughout the process should be able to make bonafide comments in a number of different ways.