The county board of supervisors Thursday is holding a public
hearing about proposals for redistricting.
The county board of supervisors Thursday is holding a public hearing about proposals for redistricting.
The federal government, following the release of 2010 census data, forced redistricting of supervisors’ districts in each county. The public hearing Thursday is set for 6 p.m. at the County Administration Building.
The board in June voted to bypass creation of an advisory panel and to have county staff come up with three alternatives for a redistricting solution. Under federal law, the board must hold two public hearings and have a new plan by Nov. 1.
The adjustment of the supervisors’ jurisdictions would depend on the county’s population shifts and it is to bring each district into compliance with the “one person, one vote” federal mandate. Each district must have similar, or the same, population.
Each supervisor’s district must be within 3 percentage points of 20 percent of the county’s population. After the 2010 census, the county’s population was 55,269 – more than 10,500 in each district.
In the past 10 years, the county has grown by more than 2,000 people and the population has changed in each district, according to information presented to the board.
Botelho’s District 2 has grown the most, with more than a 1,000-person jump from 10 years ago, according to the redistricting information. District 3 represented by Rivas and District 5 represented by Jaime De La Cruz lost residents over that time.
Some of the reasoning behind each jurisdiction is topography, geography and the interest of each community, according to the state’s election code.
