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CITIZENS ADVISORY 2013/02/21CITIZENS ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON ELECTIONS AND COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT MINUTES Thursday, February 21, 2013 6:30 p.m. Ponderosa Family Resource Center 2100 Haster, Anaheim, CA 92802 COMMITTEE MEMBERS PRESENT: Anthony Armas John Woodhead, Ex Officio Member Bill Dalati, Vice Chair David Diaz Larry Larsen Martin Lopez Gloria Ma'ae Vivian Pham, Chair Vic Real COMMITTEE MEMBERS ABSENT: Peter Agarwal Joseph Karaki STAFF PRESENT: Greg Garcia, Deputy City Manager Ted Reynolds, Assistant City Attorney Caroline Morey, Recording Secretary Spanish language translation services are available at the meeting upon request. 1. Call meeting to order. The meeting of the Citizens Advisory Committee on Elections and Community Involvement (CAC) was called to order at 6:36p.m.by Chair Pham. 2. Flag Salute 3. Approve CAC minutes of the January 10, 2013 and January 31, 2013 meetings Action: Approve minutes. Page 1 of 21 Vice Chair Dalati requested the January 10, 2013 minutes be amended on page 5 to reflect wording giving an example and adding if to correctly reflect his comment. Commissioner Real motioned to approve minutes with corrections and Commissioner Diaz seconded the motion. Ayes — 8 (Armas, Dalati, Diaz, Larsen, Lopez, Ma'ae, Pham, Real) Noes — 0 Absent -2 (Agarwal, Karaki) The motion passed. 4. Public Comments (Individual audience participation is limited to three (3) minutes per speaker) Action: Public comments on any agenda items or subject matter within the jurisdiction of the Citizens Advisory Committee. Duane Roberts, Anaheim resident who resides at 2276 Colchester. Mr. Roberts presented information regarding voting in the last election in Anaheim. He stated that the current system is problematic. Whether the change be districts or another system, he said a change is needed. He thanked Commissioner Dalati for listening to his request to change the city council meeting start time. Mr. Roberts stated that the time impacts the ability of citizens to attend the meeting. He recommends the City Council Meeting time be changed from 5:00 to 7:00 pm. to improve participation. Commissioner Dalati interjected by thanking him for the request and saying it would be considered. Mr. Dalati thanked Mr. Roberts for his efforts. Mariana Rivera, resident, supports districts. She said that she has been a community leader and for two years they have been fighting and struggling in the community. For 2 years they have tried to get attention in the community & it's very important. They have suffered for a long time. Ms. Rivera said that it's important for people to understand how they feel in the community. She said that the committee said it is important for people to come out to the meetings so they brought people to attend the meeting tonight. She asked the committee what else they need from the citizens to improve representation. She said they brought people out to vote at the last election. Most people who she has talked to support district elections. She asked how much has been spent to deal with this matter. She asked if more deaths were needed in the community, more people being run over before something is done or changes. She said the city said they don't have funds and that it's taken too long to get things done. Luz Rosales, lives on 146 Wilken Way for 18 years. She is here to give her opinion on district elections. She has been working in the community more than one year. They need more resources like a new park and resources for kids. Many people care about the community. It's hard to get something done with the city. She said many people don't know how the city works. They tried to change parking sign petition over 2 years with 750 signatures. Two years has passed to try to get something to slow traffic. They went to city hall five times and nothing has been done. They need better access to the library. There may be resources but it's hard to get to them. They need someone who will listen and understand the problems. They need the kind of people who live in the community. There are hundreds of people who want to help but they don't know how. Thank you. Page 2 of 21 Marisol Ramirez, 21 year old student at Cypress College. She is also a part-time worker. She is pro - districting. She said that she woke up to the conditions in the community and realized she needed to get involved when she was 16 years old. When candidates were running for city council, they never came to her neighborhood. She got involved because she grew up in a neighborhood much like Ponderosa. People are interested in the betterment but there is frustration. The process of district elections would help to hold the person accountable to all the neighborhoods that need help. Marta Rivera stated that she is a member of the Ponderosa neighborhood. She would like more representation and would like one representative from each community. To be aware of all the problems, a representative from the community would help. It is unfortunate that these funds are being misspent. These are funds that could be better spent on after school programs, camp for children and would help reduce crime. It would help make healthier kids. The money could help the young folks motivating them, allowing them to put drugs aside and not commit crimes. It is important for the future of these children. She said she would like to leave the thought in your hearts to help these children. Thank you. Jeanette Lister, long time resident, grew up in Anaheim on the west side and now resides on the east side. She said she is Harry Lister's youngest daughter. She works at Honda Center as the shop steward. She is also a member of UNITE HERE, Local 11. She is here to ask to please get districting. She is pro - districting because Anaheim was a small town when she grew up here with 65,000 residents and has grown to over 300,000 residents. That's 300,000 documented people, that doesn't touch on the undocumented people. She only has three minutes and wants to focus on districting. She said it's time for change. Districting, if divided up fairly would better represent the diverse community that Anaheim is now. There is a need to present this fairness. The world comes here and looks at Anaheim. It's supposed to be the happiest place on earth, but it didn't look that way with fires in the streets in June. The officials don't listen. Districting would make the mayor and city council more accountable. She said there is a problem with council city up on the hill and the people in the flats not being treated fairly. She said that because of the divide /distance it makes it hard to properly police your community. She said that working at Honda Center, she interfaces with a lot of police department and fire department when she works at Honda and the Stadium. She said that she believes most of the Police want districting too as it would make their job much easier. Districting would get more money to head off problem and help each of the districts that have need. There is an issue with immigration but she stated she did not have time in her 3 minutes today to address it. Thank you for your time. Sonoria Perez, lives on Topeka St. She came to Anaheim in 1978. Today, she is a citizen, homeowner, tax payers. She does not feel she is represented in any way with city government. She said she and her neighbors all feel that they need district representation. Thank you. Unknown name, said that was his beautiful wife, referring to Sonoria Perez. He said that they vote at every election, the little ones and even this summer, but money always beats our votes. He said he think that districts would help the people to help us fight the big money. He really hopes that the committee's recommendation will include district elections in your report. Thank you. Claire Turner, Policy Analyst with OCCORD. She presented some additional handouts for the committee at the last meeting and she has more handouts tonight regarding low voter turnout and reviewed the details of the handouts stating information she researched about voting trends in Anaheim. She stated that the committee can read it but she would read it out loud for anyone who doesn't have a copy. Today's topic is voter turnout and we did a little bit of research with contextual facts for the committee to bear in mind when they are considering the issue. Poverty, it's well known, that it correlates with low voter participation. Researchers find different reasons as to why this is. But nearly all research on the topic, from the academy, concludes that people with low to extremely low incomes are way less likely to vote if Page 3 of 21 you hold all other variables constant. Latino voters are found to be less likely to vote but this tendency is almost entirely explained by socioeconomic factor. Finally, residents of larger cities, tend to be less likely to vote and less likely to respond to local campaigning than in smaller villages, towns or smaller cities. The other half of their research is in direct response to a question Commissioner Diaz asked way back in the process whether it can be seen that district elections improve or decrease voter turnout. It's difficult to determine, the sample size that we have in California is too small to compare a California city before it adopts district elections to after. But from the very, very limited information that we have it seems that other factors are more likely to influence voter turnout like when you time an election, that sort of thing. Modesto saw a very tiny increase in voter turnout after it had adopted district elections, but they have seen much bigger fluctuations when they changed the year that they had elections, different cycles, etc. Literature on district elections and participation does suggest that at -large districts may decrease potential participation because they create distance between leaders and their constituencies. There has also been a lot of studies that suggest that geographically clustered minorities tend to be hurt when they're at large elections because they allow a white voting plurality to win all of the elections and decrease their representation to a proportional amount. Then, finally, there is some evidence if you consider all California cities, that district elections can decrease voter turnout. Researchers from PPIC, the Public Policy Institute of California found that this was what they called, a statistical artifact, because the large cities that have district elections also tend to have much lower levels of voter registration. If you control for that variable, then there really isn't any distinct effect, that district elections have on voter turnout. That concludes her presentation. She also mentioned as a personal editorial note, she stated that if Anaheim really increases voter registration and move to districts, you could see a huge increase, but that is just her personal opinion, not academic research. The handouts provided information from her research on income, ethnicity and voter participation in Anaheim. Commissioner Real had a question for Claire and asked that she return to the microphone. Mr. Real stated obviously you have done a huge amount of research, are you a student working toward a degree? Ms. Turner responded, no that she is not a student, but that she works for OCCORD. She just finished getting her Master's Degree in City Planning last year. Commissioner Real congratulated her and stated that he had a question. He said that she did a beautiful job with the presentation. On the voter participation handout provided by OCCORD, there is only one section that shows the very dark green that represents less than 40 %, is that Disneyland? Ms. Turner replied if you see on the upper two maps, if you look at the top of the area that is cross hatched that tract is Disneyland, that census tract, so it does correlate to part of that area that has very low voter turnout which is Disneyland and a little bit to the neighborhood south of that. Commissioner Real said if it's only part of Disneyland, the rest of that section is that this neighborhood (referring to Ponderosa where meeting was held). Ms. Turner replied that she thinks it would be a little further to the left on this map to the west. Commissioner Real asked to the east? She reiterated to the east. She said that one thing that she wanted to point out with this map is that the bottom map shows data by precinct, so each of those tiny outlines that you can see is the data for those sections, but within those sections, there is no precision to the data. It's not by data point it's for that whole area it's not by precinct. It doesn't line up with census data, so in a general sense you can compare the two but in a very small neighborhood level, it's difficult to use as data to compare. Page 4 of 21 Mr. Real asked if the majority of that area was in the 65 -70% area? Ms. Turner said she would guess so by looking at this map but if you wanted specific precint information based on addresses she stated that she could pull that but she didn't have that information presently available. Mr. Real said that he would be interested to know that information because many of the folks here have expressed concern about not being represented. Obviously, they chose some of the wrong people to elect to council to represent them. He said that he would like to see more information from this specific area, and Ms. Turner, if she don't mind coming back next time. Ms. Turner said she would be happy to come back and she would look into it Commissioner Larsen had one last question for clarification for Ms. Turner regarding voter participation in Anaheim. On 2012 voter info, are the percentages presented based on registration or on total population? Ms. Turner said she spoke to the OC Registrar of Voters they don't count population by precinct. She said what she did is take the total ballots cast, and then divided that by the total of registered voters that they had per precinct. That should be the number of registered voters who turned out on election day to vote. Mr. Larsen thanked her. Steve Perez, greeted the committee and said it was a tough act to follow Ms. Turner. He was glad to be back at another meeting in a beautiful part of our city. He said that he wanted to share some words regarding the task of promoting the full participation of all racial and ethnic groups in city elections. At the last meeting, we were treated to a presentation by Dr. Steve Chessin on alternative election systems. Although it was enlightening and at some points some of those alternate electoral systems seem to hold themselves up on their own merit, when he reflected upon the instructions given to you by the City Council it became abundantly clear that none of those systems that Dr. Chessin advocated for meet the threshold of enabling full participation and adequate representation. None of those systems, whether ranked choice voting, instant run off voting or cumulative voting, lower the barrier to entry anymore than our current system does. None of them help stop the influence of private interest money in our system. None of them give the community the chance to pick their own leaders geographically with a member elected solely in the district would be able to. He said his purpose in speaking was a refudiation of Steve Chessin's presentation. He supports districting. Maurice Turner, lives in downtown Anaheim. He said he really appreciates having the meetings and unfortunately it's the first meeting he's been able to attend in person. It's interesting to hear the comments from the public in attendance. He observed hearing a general need which raised the question of how do you get people to feel better represented. There were some very specific questions like how do I get a speed bump, how do I get streets painted, and he would like to offer a suggestion to the audience and committee. He said that Neighborhood Councils are an excellent way to get involved by attending their area's neighborhood council meeting. It would help achieve these goals, and give people a voice. The Neighborhood Council Meeting is different from the main City Council meeting which is primarily about conducting business and does not provide as much opportunity to be heard. There is a period for public comment at the start of the City Council meeting but not much other opportunity to be heard. Neighborhood Council Meetings are very different. They let residents be heard, get involved and dialogue on how to best get things done in your immediate neighborhood. Staff is there and helps to get things Page 5 of 21 done. He said if you have any question about how you get things done in your neighborhood, the neighborhood council meetings have been well attended by city staff from various city departments and they are the ones that actually get the work done. It's not the representatives at the council level, its individuals in the departments who actually help make these things happen. They address, how, when and where to get those particular items put in place if the funding is possible. Mr. Turner asked that the committee look more closely at the Neighborhood Council Meetings and possibly recommend they hold them more often. Now they are quarterly but maybe hold them monthly. He also recommended a stronger focus on more voter participation especially in the next upcoming meetings. This would allow people to be heard and feel more involved in the process and perhaps actually strengthen the Neighborhood Council Meeting System possibly with more of a direct reporting to City Council Members. This would allow for a clear line of communication between what is said at the neighborhood council meetings and how to get that transmitted up to the City Council Members specifically. Ron Bengochea, Anaheim resident, born and raised. He is against districting. He said that if there is a way to get things more attuned with the communities of Anaheim because it's important. He said that it seems some people don't understand that districting is not a cure all and will not necessarily allot funds to a certain neighborhood once council is in place, whatever method is chosen to be elected. City Council representatives should be good representatives of all neighborhoods. It should not matter where they live; it's what's in their heart that makes them a good representative and good leader. Where you live doesn't make you better or worse than anyone else. It's also important to understand how the City's General Fund works. There seems to be a misconception. The city only has so much money in the General Fund. If you have districts and you get your representative in there, he's not going to be able to pull the rabbit out of the hat and get your funding on all these items being requested if it's not available in the budget. It seems that there is a misconception that comes along with districting. The speaker who spoke before regarding addressing Neighborhood Councils are a good place where you can get more done. It filters up to the City Council. There are ways to get there and he understands there are many people who don't understand the process and that it's hard to get down to a meeting. In a city comparable to Anaheim, that had 8 wards, he used to be a labor business representative; he said that he found a lot of resistance within the councils with the wards and the districts, because there seem to be just as much in house fighting, as what's going on with the present at large system. He said it's important to: 1. Register to vote 2. Once registered, the make sure they come out to vote He said the Anaheim turnout was between 24 -29 %. Once those votes get dispersed 13 candidates, those votes get watered down. Funding is something that needs to be understood. It's why the $158 million needed to go to the general fund. That's the libraries. That's the community services. That's the parks. Those are the things that are important to every community. Thank you and your efforts are appreciated. Commissioner Dalati extended his thanks to Mr. Bengochea for regularly attending meeting and expressing his viewpoint with such sincerity. Mr. Dalati said if we had more citizens who participated like Mr. Bengochea it would make a difference in the city. Mr. Dalati thanked and saluted Mr. Bengochea. Mr. Bengochea replied by saying that he did love this place (Anaheim) and he wants everyone to feel represented. Arturo Ferreras introduced himself and stated that he's an immigrant. He came to Anaheim in 2006 at the height of the mortgage collapse. He likes staying here because he likes the vision of the city. Right now Page 6 of 21 he serves as the chair of the S. District Neighborhood Council. He said that people in the south district are very actively involved and bring important participation in trying to bring about improvements in our community. He said it's important to stress participation, civil awareness thanks to the help of some of the counselors who have taken an interest in the neighborhood and people in it. He said that they have seen that their petitions have had to go through a lot of pressures. Sometimes it really requires that they rally the rest of the people. He said that they fall short of doing a protest, in order that someone up there might hear them. It's a good thing that it fell on good ears and some council, what if one of us from this district would represent us there and really would be accountable to this sector of the community. He said it would help in passing through red tape. It's a good thing that there is a good mayor right now and some council who are supporting us now. He doesn't like protesting, but there needs to be a better way of asking for basic things the community should really have. He feels there need to be more participation in the policy making process for this city. He reiterated: The only way if we can have a representative there elected by us, and he or she will be accountable to us. In California, many cities who have a certain amount of residents have adopted the district process not the at large. He questions what the hesitation is. He questioned if it's fear by the people who have power. He would like to see districts and see real democracy in action. We have been pressuring the city for our demands and I thank the mayor for that as it's one of his priorities for this year. It's not enough to be active but there's a lot of petition falling to deaf ears. He is in favor of districting. Commissioner Real congratulated Mr. Ferreras for being chairman because it is a great deal of responsibility that goes with the role and it's an important job. Mr. Real said it is sad to hear they are quarterly not monthly. He was chair for 6 years of his district. He suggested that Mr. Ferreras attend a council meeting. Mr. Ferreras said he watches them online. He said he has not been able to thank Council members Brandman and Kring for their support with districts. Mr. Ferreras does email Council Member Kring. Mr. Ferreras reiterated that someone up there (on council) should represent their interests. Commissioner Real asked that he go and attend the meeting. Mr. Ferreras thanked all the volunteer committee members for their efforts. Commissioner Real said that the reason he asked, is being the chairman, you have a tremendous amount of power to make change due to perseverance and civic engagement. By being at City Council, you can get up and speak to the council as you are speaking to us today. They listen to you. There were a lot of changes in the west district. Jerry O'Keefe, said that he, too, is an immigrant from Ireland. His parents brought him to Anaheim as a child and attended I" grade at St. Boniface. They lived in the county area that was known as Euclid and Lincoln in the 1800 block. He said that Anaheim is a great town, good all the way around. He's really please to see Mr. Vic Real on the committee. He is a fine guy. He said he has a lot of confidence in the committee because he knows what a fine guy Mr. Real is having served with him on the Magnolia Manor at LaPalma and Magnolia. They served together a long time there. Good work was done there. Mr. O'Keefe agrees that the Neighborhood Council meetings could be better utilized, whether it's the proportional ones or like what Vic and he did, at an actual area with 701 homes. Mr. Real said it was 831. Mr. Keefe quoted Rodney King by saying Let's just all get along. A lot has happened. We're in a great place. He thanks God that his parents brought him here, which he did say at the City Council meeting on Tuesday. He closed by saying God bless you all. Arthur Castillo, long time resident who worked for the city. He actually used to work at Ponderosa Park when he was 13 years old and he said it's a lot better today. He worked for the city for 12 years. He has gotten involved with the community and seen the changes. He is in favor of districts because for over 35 years he has always helped the Hispanic community to understand what the city was wanting to do by Page 7 of 21 taking time, talking to them, the housing issues, ticketing issues, the produce truck vendors. He said he supported the produce truck vendors. He supported them and spoke for them in other cities besides Anaheim. So I never really saw them come up here to tell you, the representation was zero. It was very hard. It was a long battle. He hates to bring up negative stuff. He doesn't usually like to come up and speak, but things are changing. People are asking, coming out. He's been going to city council meetings since he was in his teens and participating in school board meetings. He said he has tried everything to see the reputation of the Hispanic community. When the African community came to Anaheim, they were chased out. He said he'd made friends right away and he would ask why are you leaving? He said because there were people putting swastikas on things and burning stakes on their lawns. Some of us do know those past histories. He said as a long time resident here, he lived in this neighborhood for 7 years, worked here, lived in Romneya in the Paseo Village, and the Jeffrey Lynn Hermosa area. He got involved with helping these people. He said that everyone just seemed to turn a blind eye from people he grew up with and people he worked with. He is happy that the committee is here and coming out. The people here do need representation because it seems like they are not being represented right now. Thank you very much. Commissioner Pham said she really appreciated all the comments from the community members. It was really impactful for the committee. Public comments concluded at 7:20p.m. 5. Receive and file the report on Community Outreach efforts Action: Receive and file community outreach report, upon presentation of outreach efforts. Deputy City Manager Greg Garcia introduced Ed Velasquez, outreach consultant, who provided an overview of the city's outreach efforts highlight on the flyer provided. Please see website below. The city has increased its outreach efforts and made information for the meetings available in both Spanish and English. Mr. Velasquez reviewed the slide with outreach details. The meeting informational flyer is also now available in four languages: Spanish, English, Vietnamese and Farsi. They have let the Neighborhood Council Meeting know about the CAC Meetings and invited people to attend. He has focused on outreach to community groups and personal invitations. An interest list is being formed for all who attend meetings, and he reminded speakers to complete speaker cards upon sign -in or sign -in on the sheet at the back to get email information. He said that you may also request additional information through the CAC page on the website. Mr. Velasquez has attended community neighborhood meetings and meetings of the community group, Los Amigos. The four language flyer is being posted at all public counters at City Hall, on the web and on signs at major intersections. Mr. Velasquez announced that there is a sign -in sheet by the entry and to please be sure and provide your name and email so that you can be updated on future CAC meeting updates and information. He also mentioned that translation services were available and that they have been utilized at recent meetings. He said that they are open to suggestion if there are other venues /meetings that they should attend. Outreach information made available during the meeting and online at www.anaheim.net /CACelections Commissioner Real requested that more detailed info be provided about what actually occurs at meetings. Page 8 of 21 Mr. Garcia stated that a press release goes out before the meeting and said more details regarding the work of the committee could be added. Some media outlets have written articles but the primary purpose of the press releases has been to get interest in the meetings as they are occurring. Commissioner Real requested that more detailed info from the speakers be included in the press release about the content of the CAC meetings and how individuals can participate. Commissioner Dalati addressed Claire Turner in the audience and asked if she would consider volunteering for another item. He would like to hear suggestions from her regarding low voter turnout. She agreed to Commissioner Lopez motioned to receive and file Commissioner Ma'ae seconded. Ayes — 8 ( Armas, Dalati, Diaz, Larsen, Lopez, Ma'ae, Pham, Real) Noes — 0 Absent -2 (Agarwal, Karaki) The motion passed. 6. Overview and presentation of Voter Participation and Outreach Action: Presentations by Neal Kelley, Orange County Registrar of Voters and Linda Andal, City Clerk, City of Anaheim. Presentation slides made available during the meeting and online at www.anaheim.net /CACelections Summary: Mr. Kelley and Ms. Andal each provided presentations on the process and outcomes of recent Orange County and Anaheim elections. The full video of their presentations is available online at the address noted above. Following Mr. Kelley's presentation, the Chair provided time for the committee members to ask questions. Commissioner Armas asked about inactive voter roll that you are talking about, are those people that could have moved? How do you figure out what the circumstances are why they're not voting? Is there a postcard and they don't respond and the registrar still keeps the voter name on there? Mr. Kelley said that is correct a lot of the people on the inactive voter roll have moved. They do not realize when they move they have to re- register. He stated many people think it's automatic, however, they fall off of the registered voting rolls in that case. Half of those inactive voters are people who have moved. The OC Registrar has done studies, Orange County is a pretty transient population with people moving around a lot. There were 100,000 voters who had moved over 8 times in a 10 year period which is significant. The post card will forward as long as they have a forwarding address on there. Page 9of21 Commissioner Armas asked that every time you move, you need to re- register? Mr. Kelley said that every time you move you need to re- register. It is a registration form that you are using to update your registration. You can now do that online. Online registration was not available prior to September 2012. You may also go to a library and get a paper form to fill out. Commissioner Armas said it is pretty easy. Mr. Kelley confirmed, yes, it is easy. Commissioner Dalati asked if they vote somewhere else, and they are not on the registered roll. What happens? Mr. Kelley replied if they are not on the active list, the poll worker says we will give you a provisional ballot. The OC Registrar will then match up the provisional ballot cast with the new address and then the Registrar will update it for you. So, that is a good point. If you don't re- register and you go to the poll to vote, fill out a provisional ballot. Commissioner Armas had a question regarding the process of educating the public for Mr. Kelley. The services that the OC Registrar provides are free of charge? They can be solicited by any of the community groups and you could send a representative? Mr. Kelley responded yes, sir that is how it works. In fact you could call the OC Registrar's Office and request that or fill out a speaker request form. Mr. Armas clarified that would be separate from contacting the City, just contact the OC Registrar? Mr. Kelley replied yes. Commissioner Armas said that is pretty easy to do? Mr. Kelley, said yes, you could do it tonight and they respond right away. He also wanted to discuss The My Ballot program, which is very important to us and we get a lot of feedback about which is done through the high schools. There is a lot of data out there that young individuals who register to vote and start voting will tend to stick with it. The problem is a lot of young individuals register to vote and then they don't stick with it and vote. We want to engage people throughout the community. The OC Registrar has a good strong website. There's also the election academy that explains how ballots are produced and counted. It's a good program. We have have street team at many local events here in Anaheim as well as a lot of community events especially in the 90 day cycle in Anaheim. Mr. Kelley discussed the My Ballot program in detail which engaged the high school in voter education in Anaheim. Mr. Kelley also went on to explain the language requirements. English, Spanish, Vietnamese, Chinese and Korean are the required languages in Orange County for the ballot. From the 2010 census, if you have 10,000 individuals who speak English less than very well, it is a requirement to be added. He expected they would add Tagalog, but it did not happen. Mr. Kelley addressed voting by mail which is the fastest growing segment in Orange County. Page 10 of 21 Commissioner Real asked if the Latino voting trend with voting by mail for OC could be encouraged? Commissioner Armas said it seems like we should encourage voting by mail. Mr. Kelley said it does give people a 29 day window to vote and return their ballot, which may be especially helpful for certain people who may not be able to travel, are older or have difficulty getting to a voting place. Mr. Kelley also stated that the mail in ballots are among the first ballots that are counted. Commissioner Armas asked do you have any statistics on how many mail ballots are sent out and then returned? Mr. Kelley said they had reams of data and there would be happy to provide the committee with more data. He said the return rate depends upon the election. In a special election, you get about 70% return rate on vote by mail. That is typical. That is countywide. As a comparison for a countywide election you get about a 55% return rate for a vote by mail. If there are 25 or more language requests, this measurement will trigger a bi- lingual poll worker in that polling place. For Korean and Chinese the Registrar uses birthplace as a determining factor for a bilingual poll worker because for those languages they don't have as many requests. About 500 bilingual poll workers are needed for every county wide election. Out of Anaheim High School, they had a tremendous response as a result of the My Ballot Program. Mr. Kelley showed a map and provided information that outlined the Bounty System, explaining that organizations are paid $3 -5 per voter registration card that is completed. The funding is provided by private funds. Commissioner Armas asked who funds this and is it party- driven? Mr. Kelley said you will find some of this is party driven by both sides. You also see a lot of large campaigns who mobilize to register voters. If you need Voter Registration Cards, the Registrar provides those. If you check out 50 or more we track where those go. Commissioner Armas asked who pays that fee? Mr. Kelley said the $3 -5 comes from private funds, not tax -payer money. Commissioner Armas asked if they were actually working for a group? Mr. Kelley said yes. Mr. Kelley said that voter education is key to getting voter turnout. Having a media component, community election working groups, dedicated bilingual groups are very important. They do see spikes in turnout when they are acting directly with the language communities. Commissioner Dalati asked for an explanation of voter fraud. Mr. Kelley replied with examples especially regarding registration. Paid registrations may be registering individuals who don't exist or may be deceased. All data is compared with Social Security and your driver's license for verification purposes. Commissioner Dalati asked if you could tell if people were qualified or citizens. Page 11 of 21 Mr. Kelley said there is no citizenship check. When you sign that voter registration, you are affirming that you are a US Citizen under penalty of perjury. Commissioner Ma'ae asked if there's no verification through any point in the process? Mr. Kelley replied, no. That is state and federal law. Commissioner Armas asked if there was no penalty. Mr. Kelley said there is a penalty. It is a felony if you sign the card and you are not a US Citizen. Yes, there is a violation. Commissioner Armas said how do you drop someone deceased off the role? The Registrar uses a company called Lorton Data that uses national death data. When you have situations where people may go out of the county and then they pass away in another location, that information is not collected by the county. So those individuals could still be receiving voting materials. Mr. Kelley recommended they continue scrubbing these lists including the county health department, the state, Social Security as well as mortuaries. Mr. Kelley confirmed that if someone passes away outside the county, the national list from Lorton would pick up that information. There have been thousands of individuals in Arizona or Florida where they have passed away unfortunately and the OC Registrar would get that info from the national lists. Commissioner Armas asked if it was getting more up to date. Mr. Kelley confirmed that due to the national lists it is getting much more up to date. He said as of the last couple years, it's probably one of the cleanest in the state. Commissioner Dalati asked if you have to have a Social Security number to vote. Mr. Kelley said that the law required that you put down either your driver's license number or the last four digits of your social security number. One of those two is required. So, the answer is yes. Commissioner Armas asked if there is any cross referencing. Mr. Kelley said it does directly check the Social Security database. So there is a cross check. Chair Pham interjected that there are still two more presentations and while this is fascinating information, she would like to ensure they get to both of the other speakers tonight. She thanked Mr. Kelley. He closed by stating it is an honor to be with the Registrar and thanked them for the opportunity. Presentation by Linda Andal, City Clerk, City of Anaheim Ms. Andal provided detailed information about the My Ballot program in Anaheim at Anaheim High School and Loara High School. Commissioner Real and Chair Pham asked about having seen a voter increase after the program. Page 12 of 21 Ms. Andal said there was an increase but she did not have exact numbers. She has not looked at the data specifically but from Mr. Kelley's data that was presented, there seems to have been an increase. Commissioner Dalati asked if there was a budget for outreach? Ms. Andal said there was a set budget allocated to run the elections and that is shared with the county. Mr. Dalati said he was asking specifically about outreach. Mr. Andal stated she understood and said that the outreach she discussed thus far is included in their current budget. If the city decides to pursue additional outreach, it would be at an additional cost and it would be a figure we would have to pull together at a later date. There would be an impact on the budget. Commissioner Dalati asked if there was a certain budget. Ms. Andal said it fluctuates and is based on the election. This last election, there were two vacant seats, with no measures on the ballot. So, it was a little less than the previous election where there were 3 vacant seats. In the election prior to that, there were two vacant seats but there were measures as well. Again, it is also dependent upon how many cities are consolidated, how many measures are on the ballot and that would be split between the participating cities. Commissioner Real asked about the numbers in particular for the south. Ms. Andal said she would give the population in all areas from the 2010 census data: West 99,670 Central 127,151 South 41,172 East 68,271 Commissioner Real said that is a good indication that we need to do some work in the South to register to increase the numbers. Chair Pham said it seems every area but the east needs to increase numbers. It's about 55% in all so it needs to be increased as low turnout. There was discussion about Ms. Andal's chart, map and details. Commissioner Diaz raised a question, how many of those people are able to vote. Are they of age, are they registered? Are they legal? Ms. Andal said that is correct and those are the percentages that she provided earlier. Every area with the exception of East Anaheim fell under 50 %. Commissioner Armas said those population numbers are inclusive of kids and everyone so the numbers are a little deceiving. Ms. Andal said that is correct that includes everyone such as children who were counted on the census. Commissioner Armas said that of those numbers, they are not all able to vote. There may be a heavy population of minors who cannot vote. Commissioner Armas said that is deceiving. Page 13 of 21 Ms. Andal said that is correct. She did take that into account but it would be challenging to break it down. She said it may be impossible. Under 18 population is about 27 %, according to an unofficial estimate. Ms. Andal said it could be and we can see if we can find access to that data somewhere. She said it may be hard to determine. Commissioner Diaz asked if Anaheim Magazine reaches every household in the city. Mr. Garcia stated that yes, it does, both homeowners and renters. Commissioner Armas stated we're trying to determine a better way to do things. He liked the idea of the 17` birthday card to send to youth. Could you get a free milkshake with registrations? Ms. Andal agreed it's a great idea. She said the challenge is having the school district release those addresses to us. Commissioner Armas asked if the Clerk's Office would secure the sponsorships of local businesses, making it personal and be known for something other than Disneyland. Ms. Andal said they could look into that. She said we have departments who are good at that and we have business in the community who do support efforts. So it could be looked considered. Commissioner Lopez said he has been regularly driving to LA for business and that they are about to have an election. They have a big screen at the Coliseum with voter info. Every day every driver sees there is an election. They see info about early voting. Does Anaheim have the same type of ability to partner with businesses here? Could we do the same thing at the Convention Center. He lives near there and he sees the signage. Could there be a reminder at the convention center, Disney, Honda Center, etc.? Ms. Andal said that they can definitely explore that. The Executive Director is very helpful and can certainly explore it. Chair Pham said there are some great ideas for the subcommittees. She also called a five minute recess before the last speaker. 7. Overview and presentation of City of Vista Community Outreach Communities Action: Presentations by Aly Zimmermann, Assistant City Manager, City of Vista Presentation slides made available during the meeting and online at www.anaheim.net /CACclections Mr. Garcia provided the background on the ad hoc committee that was formed in Vista. Ms. Zimmermann staffed the community outreach program that was created as a result of the CAC in Vista to increase participation. The committee was created in 2004 with a three year sunset with two main charges: 1. Increase voter participation through education and registration efforts Page 14 of 21 2. General increases to community involvement not just with voting but volunteering on boards and commissions, for non - profits, the school district, the Boys and Girls' clubs. Engaging people more in the community and understanding the resources that the community had to offer. Question and Answer period followed. Commissioner Dalati asked if there was a lawsuit against the City of Vista. Ms. Zimmerman indicated as Mr. Dernetz told you a couple of months ago that there was a Department of Justice investigation that began. It was a potential violation of section 2. Section 2 is the one that where you have to show shows a statistical analysis that show the that your community voting pattern represent a distinct minority population voting pattern if there were to make up a precinct or district if we were to be a district city. On top of that analysis, it would also have to show that the other voting populations are voting in such a way that they would support candidates that are in that district are out voted. However, that was not proven. The investigation ended at that point. Commissioner Diaz asked if there was someone complaining about not having a say in the voting process. Ms. Zimmermann said it was an anonymous complaint. She does not believe they ever found out where it came from. Commissioner Diaz asked who selected the committee. Ms. Zimmermann said the committee was selected the same way all committees are selected. They opened up a citywide application process. The mayor and one or two council members interview them all and then the mayor makes recommendations at the city council meeting. The council will approve the selection. Commissioner Diaz asked how many members were selected. It was a 7 member committee with 1 -2 alternates and one youth delegate. Commissioner Diaz asked if everyone in the city felt as though they were fairly represented was there a feeling that the ethnic makeup satisfied the community. Ms. Zimmermann said that based on surnames, she would say the make -up was majority Latino. Commissioner Diaz asked what was the feeling of the community once they made the three recommendations, as far as the at large election system being retained, for the council and the mayor. For the problem, that you had reached through expanded efforts and increased voter registrations were reached. When those recommendations were broadcast, what was the feeling in the community? Was it a response of one's listening and you're doing the same thing or was it accepted easily. Tell us about what happened. Page 15 of 21 Ms. Zimmermann said that it was ten years ago. So, to the best of her recollection it was accepted fairly easily. To our knowledge the complaint didn't come from the community. There was not a large up swell of issues where we had a feeling that the community was disenfranchised. The council chose not to focus on that but on the way to increase outreach and provide more services and engagement in the entire city focusing on the Hispanic community. Commissioner Dalati asked again what the finding was. Ms. Zimmermann reiterated that there was no finding because they did not have enough information. The case was dropped. Chair Pham asked what the population of Vista was. Ms. Zimmermann stated just under 90,000, about 89,000 plus change at the time. Now they are over 95,000. Commissioner Real clarified he sees two committees CAC committee that met for 7 months and came up with 3 recommendations and then the COC which met for 3 years. Would you explain the difference between the CAC and COC. Ms. Zimmermann said in this scenario your committee would be the equivalent of the CAC in Vista. You are the ad hoc committee in Vista for what the causes were for this potential investigation, looking at some of the demographics, how were voting patterns looking, how were registration patterns looking, where were our minority and ethnicities within the community. She did not staff that CAC committee. She was not as involved. That committee addresses the fact that this issue arose. What they recommended was the three recommendations. From that, Council created the COC and they were charged with the voter registration and community outreach tasks. She restated that the COC last 3 years. There were 7 members, 2 alternates and a youth member. Commissioner Lopez, he asked in your recollection, since you were there, were you here earlier for this meeting? Ms. Zimmermann said she was here. Commissioner Lopez stated that you saw we had a lot of people coming forward saying there are these issues in the community, we need representation, issues are not being handled. Did you see more or less people come out in Vista with these type of concerns. Ms. Zimmermann said she could not speak to that because she was not present for that part of the ad hoc CAC committee. She could look back at the minutes to see if that information was available. Mr. Garcia said that just to remind the committee, we heard Mr. Dernetz already on the CAC and the findings and we're asking Ms. Zimmermann to specifically discuss the efforts of the COC which was a separately created committee. Commissioner Lopez said he wanted to be sure they compared apples to apples. Page 16 of 21 Mr. Garcia said that Ms. Zimmermann's participation and presentation on the COC was separate from what we saw before and she is not necessarily able to address districts or not districts. Today the topic is outreach. Commissioner Lopez said the decision of the Vista CAC made 3 major recommendations. Mr. Garcia said that is correct but she did not staff the CAC and today we're focused on the outreach portion. Commissioner Armas after they made their recommendations is somewhat irrelevant to what we're going to do here. After you made these changes, did you have some positive feedback and outcomes in the community? Do you feel it was worthwhile do all of this. Ms. Zimmermann said she thought it was worthwhile. She said they found new avenues through which they could provide services to their community. They spent more time working with some the community. There were people back in 2004 that began participating and continue to be active in the community and involved in various committees. They are working in different places in the school district or Chamber of Commerce within the city. It was a great opportunity to open doors. Commissioner Armas said it's still growing. Ms. Zimmermann clarified though the committee is no longer meeting, many benefits have occurred as a result of the increased participation and outreach. It has been a challenging time because many of the social services have decreased incrementally over time. So staff has not spent as much time up keeping the program. They continue to update their resource directories. They are no longer doing the big voter registration drives at this time. The community picked up some of the slack, and the Vista Adult School helped. Commissioner Armas said did you feel the community engage? Ms. Zimmermann said yes. There was engagement when they went out into the community. However, on a day to day basis, she did not feel like Vista had as many residents participate as what she saw tonight in Anaheim. Commissioner Dalati an investigation was triggered, and the outcome was outreach. Was that sufficient, in your opinion? Ms. Zimmermann said, of course, you can always do more. However, given the fiscal constraints of the committee; they had a very small budget the first year about $11,000 in cost and about $11,000 for a consultant. With that budget they put some good programs and practices in place: making voter registration forms and guides available as a government in making information available to our community. Commissioner Dalati asked about districting. He asked if districting was discussed. Chair Pham stated there was so districting in Vista. Page 17 of 21 Ms. Zimmermann said no, it did not. They continue to have 4 council members elected at large and a directly elected mayor. It was discussed by the ad hoc committee, but they made the recommendation that the at large system was working in Vista. Commissioner Real on page 3 of the chart, you have comparative numbers today on the increase in voters. Ms. Zimmermann said no, she did not. Commissioner Real asked to rephrase the question. He asked if Ms. Zimmerman felt that the City of Vista was a success today because of the COC activity. Do you have better turnout and a mix of representative? Ms. Zimmerman stated she thinks so. They have a diverse council. They live in all parts of the city. They are all very community minded so that Vista is who they represent not a certain neighborhood. The city council has been like that as long as she has been there. There has been good leadership and long tenures even during the investigation. It's hard for her to say that it's better because the council has always been engaged with voters and the entire community. Commissioner Armas, after the committee was abandoned. With Anaheim being a larger city do you think it would be beneficial to keep it going and possibly piggy back in on to another department? Ms. Zimmermann replied since they didn't have an election every year there wasn't constant need for the commission and they didn't need to have the commissioner meet in off election years. They don't feel it's beneficial to have a committee meet just for the sake of meeting. It's important to have a charge and be engaged. She does not know Anaheim well enough to give a qualified answer. She is sure your staff could make a recommendation on that. Chair Pham stated normally she would open the floor to questions but the two earlier presenters have left at this time. Steve Perez asked if public comments could be made. Just a few important points from the two earlier presentations: the chair already pointed out that the chair already pointed out that Vista has a 1/3 of Anaheim's population. It's an important consideration. They have about .9 of a person more. Their society is a bit more heterogeneous. They have 63% white population. Anaheim's white population is ten percent lower. Mr. Kelley pointed out that the community is transient in the city in the last decade. Voter outreach would be highly ineffectual due to the high transiency rate. You'd be attracting voters to come in and then they'd leave to any outreach efforts would have to be continuous. The only way you'd make changes is to make systematic changes that way. Thank you. Duane Roberts, again. He mentioned a valuable service the city could offer that Ms. Andal did not discuss that might enhance voter outreach and participation. If she mentioned it, he stands correct as he left to speak with Mr. Kelley for a moment. Many cities smaller than Anaheim broadcast debates prior to elections. He recommended broadcast debates on the city run television channel that even allow public facilities and equipment to be used provided its run by an independent non - partisan group as a means of increased participation. The question that raised in a city as large as Anaheim, why aren't candidate debates televised on city run television channel. This could improve Page 18 of 21 engagement. One reason why people don't vote is they lack information other than the numerous signs, posters, and candidate statement, as that's not much information. Thank you. Steve Perez came back and said he cornered Mr. Kelley before he left and asked if he could get info on what sort of cost districts. He asked if he could quoted Mr. Kelley as saying Mr. Kelley to Mr. Perez that the cost of implementing districts would be miniscule or non - existent, to the Registrar of Voters. Also the transition would be simple and could be implemented within a matter of days. He said in regards to the City of Vista's council. He hates to refute the previous presenter but he said that it would seem that all the council are white based on their surnames other than Aguilera. He might be Hispanic White. He might be Hispanic. He does not know. Everyone else seems to be white. They don't seem to have a very diverse council. Commissioner Ma'ae commented on the last public comment by saying that she is Hispanic but her surname is Polynesian, so judging by a name really doesn't say much. She understands the speakers point but one's name is somewhat irrelevant as a determination. S. Committee Communications Action: Closing comments. Commissioner Real thanked everyone for their attendance. It was a good meeting. He wished to make special introduction of Mr. Jerry O'Keefe who is a retired the state Vice President representing Retired Public Employees for the State of California. Mr. O'Keefe is a retired Anaheim Police officer. He has lived here since 1955. Mr. Real stated it was an honor to have Mr. O'Keefe at the meeting as a long time resident and that he was one of the first individuals to step into Disneyland Park when they opened in 1955. Commissioner Ma'ae thanked everyone for coming and was sorry to see that they were not here to hear all that each speaker had to say. She said each speaker has a lot of knowledge to offer us. She said there is much to gain from the process. She was disappointed that so much focus has been placed on the money being spent on other means and other areas when it is important for people to be heard. Ms. Ma'ae said she was concerned that the public felt the money could be better spent in other areas. It is important what they have been tasked with, how it came about is irrelevant. The charge that the committee has been tasked with is very important for the future of the city and future residents. For those who move in, or move out, that becomes a non - issue. There may be just as many people who come to our city as leave. We don't know that. There are tons of us who are here, and will still be here, and continue to live in Anaheim. Some of us may not be as educated as some of the speakers, but if we remain open minded to continue absorb and learning what we're being informed of, it is very important. It's important for people who come to the meeting to stay long enough or to Page 19 of 21 watch the video to see and hear the info presented so that they will be able to use that in the future when making recommendations. Commissioner Dalati thanked the city staff and great speakers for their presentations and for staying late until the conclusion of the meeting. He said he is learning a lot. He appreciates staff and audience being here away from their family. He appreciates everyone taking the time to be a part of this. He said God bless everyone. Commissioner Armas thanked staff and said that they have done a good job in presenting information which has allowed the committee and public to learn a lot. He commented on being pleased with the increased participation and that staff was doing a good job in getting the word out. As we get educated, we can start making some intelligent decisions and he's looking forward to that part. Commissioner Diaz thanked all of the speakers for their information. It will help in making good decisions. Commissioner Lopez thanked the public for their increased input. He thanked them for coming. What is best for you is best for the city. He said that the committee will take that input into account as they help make recommendations that are good for the people and good for the city. The committee will listen to everyone including those who voiced their thoughts and concerns. With all due respect, he disagrees with some of the views of his fellow committee members. He is concerned about the amount of money that has been spent on putting the committee together and the logistical expenses, staff time, and all that has gone into it. Also, how much money has been spent on the lawsuit. He said that the City of Anaheim is long overdue to for more city council members and a mayor. Mr. Lopez stated that he believes there is something wrong with system and we need to fix it. He feels like they are delaying to some extent. It will be interesting to get an update on what has been spent on the lawsuit. He would like to better understand why it's taking 750 signatures and two years to get speed bumps in the South district. He said it's really disappointing. Commissioner Larsen thanked the staff in consideration of everyone including staff who have been here three hours, he would like to thank them and say good evening. Chair Pham thanked all of the staff. Deputy City Manager Garcia stated that the committee would be meeting next Thursday, February 28 at Brookhurst Community Center. Chair Pham asked that they not leave yet as she had comments. She expressed concern over what information is being provided to the committee and questioned why the information being provided was not responsive to questions the committee has asked when there are audience member like Ms. Turner from OCCORD who presented info to the committee. She thanked staff for the presenters but was concerned for all the work done with the presenters. She doesn't understand if City staff is bound because of the lawsuit but she finds it disturbing that Commissioner Real and Dalati are asking a Clare Turner who is volunteering her time to give us answers. She appreciates the presenters but wanted to better understand why it's taking so much time and questions have gone unanswered. She is thankful and grateful for all the work that has been done. Mr. Garcia responded by stating that they have done the best to finding the best presenters. They are open to presenters. If you email him, they can make a specific agenda item to address that concern. Page 20 of 21 Some presenters are unable to accurately answer the questions with the limited info available at the time. To your point, Mr. Garcia said that we take notes and try to answer those questions. We bought in demographers who answered a lot of those questions. If there is follow up that we need to do, let us know so that we can do a better job. If any committee members need additional info, please email Greg Garcia, Deputy City Manager directly. Chair Pham thanked staff and mentioned that she had asked about geographic polarization specifically at one meeting and would still like more info. Further, Mr. Garcia stated that the questions asked about the lawsuit and polarized voting were and are not the charge of the committee and would not be addressed because that information is being litigated. He encouraged all committee members that if you think of things or not satisfied with info you are getting, we will make a separate agenda item to address it. We want to ensure you receive all the information you need. As a staff, we have no opinion on this and want to provide you will the the information that is needed to make the best recommendation that is possible. Vice Chair Dalati requested that they record a motion to ask City Council to allow them to share info on lawsuit. Chair Pham said that item was not on the agenda and could not be acted upon. She said there are many questions that they had and they hope to hear back. 9. Adjournment The meeting was adjourned by Chair Pham at 9:20 p.m. Page 21 of 21 Respectfully Submitted.