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ELECTORAL DISTRICTS 2015/05/12ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON ELECTORAL DISTRICTS MINUTES TUESDAY, MAY 12, 2015 6:30 P.M. Anaheim City Council Chambers Committee Members Present: Hon. James Jackman, Ret.; Hon. Nancy Wieben Stock, Ret.; Hon. Stephen Sundvold, Ret.; Hon. Thomas Thrasher, Ret.; Hon. Edward Wallin, Ret. Staff Present: City Clerk Linda Andal, Outside Counsel Ben De Mayo, Consultant Justin Levitt. 1. Call meeting to order: The meeting of the Advisory Committee on Electoral Districts (ACED) was called to order at 6:41 pm by City Clerk Linda Andal. The members of the committee and staff introduced themselves with brief comments. City Clerk Linda Andal reviewed housekeeping items for the meeting as follows: the City Clerk will facilitate the meeting until the Chair is selected under Agenda Item No. 3, seating at the dais is currently alphabetical and will change at future meetings based on the outcome of Agenda Item No. 3, meetings held in the chambers will be video -taped and available online within 48 hours of each meeting, all agendas and back -up material will be available online and at the City Clerk's office at least 72 hours prior to each meeting, microphones should be turned on when speaking and off when not speaking, Spanish interpretation will be available at every committee meeting with other language interpreters available upon 48 hour prior request to the City Clerk's office. 2. Public Comments (3 minutes — all agenda items except Item No. 6, District Presentation): City Clerk Linda Andal explained speaker cards would be used at each meeting, though not mandatory, rather as a tool to help facilitate the meeting and create a list of interested persons for future outreach. Vic Real, Anaheim resident, indicated he had never felt unrepresented and was always involved in the City, including serving on the past election committee. He acknowledged the large task in front of the committee and was looking forward to citizens voting and exerting democracy. Brian Chuchua thanked the committee for being here, congratulated them on accepting the challenging work, and expressed his disappointment that the audience was not full. Greg Diamond, Brea resident, directed the committee's attention to the 2011 hearings of the California Redistricting Commission, the extensive archives of their meetings, and expressed his hope that this committee would emulate that commission. Mr. Diamond questioned whether the City would allow members of the public to use freely available software to engage in their own redistricting and encouraged the use of such technology, specifically limiting by census block. He also directed the committee's attention to election law cases and the concepts of "packing" and "cracking," each of which he indicated was bad for minorities. Regular Meeting of the Advisory Committee on Electoral Districts May 12, 2015 Page 2 of 5 Dr. Patricia Adelekan, Anaheim resident, thanked the committee for their time and contribution to get this job done. She questioned how problems could be solved if people were not at the table. She encouraged people at home to participate in the decisions to be made, and then no one could complain if they do not take responsibility now. Mariana Rivera (through a Spanish interpreter) thanked the committee and expressed appreciation on behalf of the community. Ms. Rivera remarked she lived in the Guinida area for about 12 years and started getting involved about 6 years ago to help her community. She spoke about issues she has seen such as poverty, parents working three jobs, and kids turning to gangs. She expressed her support for district elections as a way to help communities and families receive equally divided resources. Gloria Ma'ae, Anaheim resident and former member of Anaheim's Citizens Advisory Committee on Elections and Community Involvement, expressed her thanks to the committee for serving, her gratitude for looking at different districting options, encouraged the committee to be fair and balanced, and was looking forward to the process. 3. Elect Chair and Co- Chair: Judge Sundvold nominated Justice Edward Wallin to Chair, seconded by Judge Stock. With no other nominations for Chair, City Clerk Andal called for a vote. Approved Vote: 5 -0. Justice Edward Wallin was appointed Chair. Chairman Wallin nominated Stephen Sundvold for Vice Chair, seconded by Judge Stock. With no other nominations for Vice Chair, Chairman Wallin called for a vote. Approved Vote: 4 -0 -1. AYES - 4 (Chairman Wallin and Judges Jackman, Stock, and Thrasher). NOES — 0. ABSTENTION — 1 (Judge Sundvold). Judge Stephen Sundvold was appointed Vice Chair. 4. Brown Act Presentation: Prior to the presentation, City Attorney Michael Houston provided a brief description on the creation of the committee pursuant to a settlement agreement. Mr. Houston then presented a PowerPoint presentation of the Ralph M. Brown Act, as applicable to public meetings of legislative bodies, including this committee. 5. Receive and File memo from City Attorney regarding Legal Issues and Parliamentary Procedures: Judge Jackman moved to approve Item No. 5, seconded by Judge Thrasher. Approved Vote: 5 -0. 6. Council District Presentation: Demographic consultant, Justin Levitt, gave a presentation on council districts including the history of how the City arrived at this process through voter approval of Measures L & M at the November 2014 election. Mr. Levitt described various Federal and State regulations, laws, and criteria that affect the establishment of districts, indicating that beyond complying with the federal and state mandates the committee could determine which criteria are most important to them. He explained several breakdowns of city demographics based on the 2010 Census data including total population, voting age population, Hispanic /non- Hispanic White /Asian citizen voting age population, education, Regular Meeting of the Advisory Committee on Electoral Districts May 12, 2015 Page 3 of 5 family size, transportation needs, income level, language, and home - ownership data; however noting that all this data is no substitute for members of the public telling the committee what their communities are and what they mean to them. Mr. Levitt then discussed the overall districting process expressing the importance of public input during the first round of public meetings. This first round, he explained, would get communities of interest together to discuss and understand the process and issues in Anaheim, which could result in the creation of at least 2 -3 draft proposals based on public feedback and testimony. A second round of public meetings would be held for debate on the draft proposals prior to the committee making their final recommendation to the City Council. He shared that the Committee has the option of presenting several plans to Council in their final recommendation. Thereafter, the City Council will hold at least three public hearings, advising that changes to the maps could still be made. The final map approved by the City Council would be used in the November 2016 election. Mr. Levitt concluded his presentation by emphasizing that public input was vital and this process would allow residents to define their community of interest by geographic boundaries and to share their opinions about proposed district lines. a. Public Comment on Council District Presentation, only (3 minutes): Greg Diamond questioned whether the units on the public participation maps could be subdivided into smaller areas and how to obtain the population of the subdivisions and encouraged the committee to be on guard of existing and potential candidate locations being tied into other presented data and to avoid snaking districts. Mr. Levitt responded that each unit on the map consisted of one to several hundred blocks, including approximately 1,000 people, remarking that the block file can be made available upon request. Vic Real requested clarification on the existing dash lines on the maps as being the current Neighborhood District Council boundaries. Mr. Levitt confirmed the purple lines on the displayed map indicated current Neighborhood District Council boundaries with the orange lines representing school districts within the city. Benita Gagne, Anaheim Republican Assembly President, reported they had a district boundary drawing contest at the WAND BBQ and submitted a representation of 11 contestant entries. She questioned whether the units on the public participation maps were contiguous with current voting precincts and if not, would it cause problems for the Registrar of Voters. Mr. Levitt advised that after the City Council approves the final maps, the final step would be to work with the Orange County Registrar of Voters to determine the precincts based on the new district boundaries. Regular Meeting of the Advisory Committee on Electoral Districts May 12, 2015 Page 4 of 5 Dr. Patricia Adelekan expressed her view that public input is very important and inquired about the method of getting the word out to the community as many are not on internet and whether there is a plan to transport people to the committee meetings. Ms. Andal advised that a community outreach plan would be presented following public comments which would address Dr. Adelekan's comments. Responding to the question of reaching people who were unable to make it to the meetings, Ms. Andal referenced an upcoming item on the agenda which allowed the committee members to schedule meetings in the communities, not just City Council Chambers. Alejandra Montsenor, questioned how the committee is taking input from communities and going through the provided feedback /testimonies. Chairman Wallin and Mr. De Mayo provided clarifying remarks about the process that the committee will get a full analysis from the demographer as well as all maps submitted by the public. The committee will then make suggestions for changes to the maps over the course of several meetings and present a preferred option with City Council also receiving the same data and holding at least three public hearings in accordance with State law before adopting the final maps. 7. Presentation of Community Outreach Plan: City Clerk Linda Andal presented the community outreach plan for this districting process and went through a number of efforts for the first meeting of the committee and current efforts underway for future meetings. Highlighted in the presentation was the e- Postcard, a grass roots effort where identified community groups and leaders were contacted and asked to forward to their membership, Fast Facts, a one page document with the primary information about the committee and the districting process; both documents were provided in English and Spanish with other languages available upon request. Ms. Andal also reviewed the dedicated webpage, www.anaheim.net /districts through which the website and associated documents would available in English, Spanish, Chinese, Vietnamese, and Korean. Chairman Wallin added that as this was the first time districts are being drawn in Anaheim rather than merely adjusting district lines, the task is more challenging. Mr. Levitt indicated that the impact of this project is not just in the current time but also into the future as in 2021, the districts drawn through this process would be used as a base for potential changes as the result of the 2020 Federal Census. 8. Committee meeting calendar: The committee discussed their availability on several dates in May, June, and July and directed staff to procure locations, other than the Council Chambers, for certain meetings. Judge Thrasher moved to approve the following dates and locations for future committee meetings, all to begin at 6:30 p.m.: Wednesday, May 27 — Council Chambers Thursday, June 4 — West Anaheim location Tuesday, June 9 — Council Chambers Wednesday, July 1 — Council Chambers Regular Meeting of the Advisory Committee on Electoral Districts May 12, 2015 Page 5 of 5 Wednesday, July 8 — South Anaheim location Seconded by Chairman Wallin. Approved Vote: 5 -0. 9. Committee Comments / Staff Comments: Chairman Wallin thanked everyone for being good citizens by attending and participating in the meeting. 10. Adjourn meeting: Chairman Wallin adjourned the ACED meeting at 8:32pm. p Linda N. Andal, CMC City Clerk