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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2021-45 - Opposing any County redistricting which splits Costa Mesa into two districtsRESOLUTION NO. 2021-45 A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF COSTA MESA, CALIFORNIA, OPPOSING ADOPTION OF ANY REDISTRICTING PLAN FOR THE COUNTY OF ORANGE WHICH SPLITS COSTA MESA INTO TWO DISTRICTS, REMOVES IT FROM SUPERVISORIAL DISTRICT NO. 2, AND/OR CHANGES ITS ELECTION CYCLE THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF COSTA MESA DOES HEREBY RESOLVE AS FOLLOWS: WHEREAS, the County of Orange is currently in the process of drawing new district boundaries for its five Supervisorial Districts as a result of the Decennial Census; and WHEREAS, California Elections Code section 21500 (c)(2) provides: "To the extent practicable, the geographic integrity of any local neighborhood or local community of interest shall be respected in a manner that minimizes its division. A 'community of interest' is a population that shares common social or economic interests that should be included within a single supervisorial district for purposes of its effective and fair representation. Communities of interest do not include relationships with political parties, incumbents, or political candidates; and WHEREAS, California Elections Code section 21500 (c)(3) provides: "To the extent practicable, the geographic integrity of a city or census designated place shall be respected in a manner that minimizes its division"; and WHEREAS, California Elections Code section 21500 (d) provides; "The board shall not adopt supervisorial district boundaries for the purpose of favoring or discriminating against a political party"; and WHEREAS, the Board of Supervisors has not obtained draft maps from a professional demographer to consider in its required redistricting; and WHEREAS, the Board of Supervisors initially received and considered only eight maps in connection with the redistricting of the County; and WHEREAS, the Board of Supervisors has narrowed the selection of maps for further consideration in the redistricting process to a few that harm the interests of the citizens of the City of Costa Mesa; and Resolution No. 2021-45 Page 1 of 4 WHEREAS, of the maps the Board of Supervisors has selected for further consideration in the redistricting process, to the extent that one or more of them splits Costa Mesa, Newport Beach and Huntington Beach into different districts, those map(s) violate the statutory requirements that communities of interest should be respected in the redistricting process, and that the geographic integrity of a city shall be respected in a manner that minimizes its division; and WHEREAS, of the maps the Board of Supervisors has selected for further consideration in the redistricting process, all of them move the City of Costa Mesa into different districts from District No. 2, in which it has been located for decades, completely reconfiguring the district lines of the region in which Costa Mesa is located in the County; and WHEREAS, none of the current maps the Board of Supervisors are considering in the redistricting process keep the City of Costa Mesa in the same district as both the majority of Huntington Beach and Newport Beach, its two nearest neighbors, both geographically and socio-economically, with which it has shared legislators for decades, and with which Costa Mesa shares or borders upon numerous regional assets such as Banning Ranch and both Newport Boulevard and the 16th Street corridor, the John Wayne Airport flight path, contractual relationships such as Costa Mesa and Huntington Beach for helicopter services, and Costa Mesa and Newport Beach for the Bridge Shelter, service districts such as Mesa Water District, and educational facilities through the Newport -Mesa Unified School District, completely reconfiguring the district lines of the region in which Costa Mesa is located in the County; and WHEREAS, the distinct composition of the City's neighborhoods creates unique priorities for our communities that closely aligns the City's interests with that of central coastal cities in Orange County. Costa Mesa, Newport Beach and Huntington Beach are all part of the Central Special Planning Area (SPA) in the County; and WHEREAS, of the maps the Board of Supervisors has selected for further consideration in the redistricting process, all of them separate the City of Costa Mesa from either Huntington Beach or Newport Beach, moving all three contiguous cities into different districts from District No. 2, thus violating the statutory requirements that communities of interest should be respected in the redistricting process: and Resolution No. 2021-45 Page 2 of 4 WHEREAS, of the maps the Board of Supervisors has selected for further consideration in the redistricting process, the maps that call for moving Costa Mesa into District No. 1 would completely disenfranchise the entire Costa Mesa citizenry by forcing them into a district whose Supervisor was elected by citizens of other cities and depriving them of the opportunity to vote for their own Supervisor for two full years, in 2024 instead of 2022; and WHEREAS, maps that will be considered in the final selection process have not been published and made publicly available for the required period of time to allow citizen input; and; WHEREAS, many citizens have expressed concern that the selected proposed maps, and particularly those which move Costa Mesa from District No. 2 to District No. 1, which have different election cycles, demonstrate that the Board of Supervisors intend to and will adopt supervisorial district boundaries for the purpose of favoring or discriminating against a political party, which is impermissible; NOW, THEREFORE, IT IS RESOLVED by the City Council of the City of Costa Mesa that the City of Costa Mesa opposes adoption of any redistricting plan for the County of Orange which splits Costa Mesa into more than one district, separates it from both Newport Beach and Huntington Beach, its closest regional and demographically similar partners, removes Costa Mesa from District No. 2, or changes its election cycle by moving it to District No. 1, thus disenfranchising its voters for two years. Resolution No. 2021-45 Page 3 of 4 PASSED, APPROVED AND ADOPTED this 16th day of November, 2021: ATTEST: q5�" (& ..k) Brenda Green, ity Clerk STATE OF CALIFORNIA) COUNTY OF ORANGE ) ss CITY OF COSTA MESA ) APPROVED AS TO FORM: Kimberly Hall Bar ow, City Attorney I, BRENDA GREEN, City Clerk of the City of Costa Mesa, DO HEREBY CERTIFY that the above and foregoing is the original of Resolution No. 2021-45 and was duly passed and adopted by the City Council of the City of Costa Mesa at a regular meeting held on 16th day of November, 2021, by the following roll call vote, to wit: AYES: COUNCIL MEMBERS: CHAVEZ, GAMEROS, HARLAN, HARPER, REYNOLDS, MARK, AND STEPHENS. NOES: COUNCIL MEMBERS: NONE. ABSENT: COUNCIL MEMBERS: NONE. ABSTAIN: COUNCIL MEMBERS: NONE. IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereby set my hand and affixed the seal of the City of Costa Mesa this 17th day of November, 2021. ;I l� I A WL�� Resolution No. 2021-45 Page 4 of 4