On Feb. 2, the Lompoc City Council and the public received a presentation concerning the need to adjust the four City Council districts. The staff report started with “Every 10 years, cities with by-district election systems must use new census data to review and, if needed, redraw, district lines to reflect how local populations have changed. This process, called redistricting, ensures all districts have nearly equal population.”
When the four districts were first organized, the council was very careful to try and draw boundaries that could be easily understood by both current and potential council members and the public. With some minor deviations they followed major streets to define each district. The state of California defined “population” as ethnic breakdown, so a second consideration was to allow for at least one minority-majority district (meaning so called minority populations would constitute most of the voting age residents).
They were successful. In fact, they overachieved. Later I will explain how this success worked in practice.
Now we fast forward to 2021; the 2020 census results were finalized so the council was once again obligated to conduct hearings concerning whether they needed to adjust district boundaries. On Nov. 2, 2021, the City Council received the first of several informational briefings from a consulting firm hired to facilitate any changes to the current districts.
During the presentation, the consultant said that the 2020 census demonstrated a modest out-of-balance condition; one council district has 400 more people than any other district. The consultant explained that if the total population deviation of the combined four districts was 10 percent or more, then adjustments would be required. However, the official census established that there was only a little more than 6 percent deviation, so no changes should be required.
Then on Feb. 2, 2022, the consultant returned to the City Council for another in the series of public meetings. This time council members were armed with specific questions concerning the census results and their impact on the need to redraw district boundaries.
Even though federal law specifically says that there shall be no racial gerrymandering when drawing districts, California law requires that “communities of interest” (aka, specific racial groups) be considered when drawing the lines. The City Council asked whether “communities of interest” were properly represented within the current boundaries.
Council members asked if they should consider potential population changes that may or may not occur during the next 10 years. Considering the modest growth rate in Lompoc over the last decade, it would be a gamble to predict any growth of population at this point, but the consultant and city attorney agreed that the council could consider this if they wanted to. We’ll have to wait until the final hearing to see what they decide to do.
As it turns out, the original boundaries provided two City Ccouncil districts that included more than 65 percent minority-majority representation. So, half of the districts meet the state criteria and reflect the ethnic distribution in the city.
Theoretically, these two districts would allow minority candidates to prevail in elections, but that’s not what happened. There are 3,500 registered voters in one of those districts, and in the last election (2018), less than half voted. In the other district there are 4,600 registered voters and only 2,500 cast ballots. Only one minority candidate stepped forward to run, and he was elected from one of these two districts.
On the other hand, in another district that does not have a minority-majority plurality there are 5,600 registered voters; 3,600 elected a minority candidate to office.
So, what conclusion could we draw from how district elections work in practice? First, to get elected to a council seat you must file your papers, campaign to tell the voters what you’ll do, and then convince them to vote for you. Second, a higher percentage of voters must turn out for these elections so that the desire of most voters is reflected in the outcome.
Considering all this, do you think that a new district representation plan is needed? Since the existing plan meets both federal and state standards, why waste time and money redrawing them at this time? Wait until the next census and see if any adjustments will be required.
Lastly, at least in Lompoc it doesn’t matter how many so-called “minority” voters there are in a district. Anyone who runs for office has an equal chance at success if they have a solid agenda in mind.
Ron Fink writes to the Sun from Lompoc. Send your response for publication to [email protected].
