AgdaPkt 2018-09-24 Joint SA PFA - Laserfiche WebLink

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This transition timeline is compressed to meet the requirements of the 2016 amendments to the CVRA; the tight schedule is not optimal—it is also not the City's choice. In addition to the March 31 deadline, there are some very specific actions that are required of the City Council. To start the process, the statute requires that the City Council hold two public hearings to consider the "composition" of districts within thirty days of each other. These two hearings are required before the City Council may consider any draft maps. Next, the City Council must hold at least two additional public hearings during a 45 -day period on the map(s) of the districts themselves. The maps must be publicly available for at least seven days before the public hearing, and if a change is made to the map after the first public hearing, the revised map must be available at least seven days before the districts are adopted by ordinance. The ordinance establishing the City Council districts will also assign an election year to each of the districts. If the current seven -Council Member system is retained, four of the districts would be assigned a November 2020 election and three districts would be assigned a November 2022 election. This is referred to as the "sequencing" of elections. All current City Council Members, and those elected in November 2018, will serve as at - large City Council Members until the end of their terms in 2020 and 2022, at which time they would have to run for re-election by -district, if they reside in one of the districts up for election that year, or simply finish their current term and leave the council. Since each seated council member was elected "at -large," until their term expires, they can be serving in an "at -large" capacity and are allowed to live anywhere in the City. If the City Council adopts the resolution, there will be significant staff time needed to transition to by -district -based elections and to administer the process, including the need for five public hearings and community outreach. The community outreach will include a webpage dedicated to the district election issue and updated throughout the process, and the creation of "public participation kits" that empower residents to draw and submit their own population -balanced proposed maps, which the City Council will consider along with the draft maps that the City's demographic consultants will draw for City Council consideration. The City Council will have the ability to request modifications to the options presented or a different option. ALTERNATIVES Keep the At -Large Election Svstem The City Council can choose to retain the current at -large City Council election system. It is likely Mr. Shenkman and his client would then initiate a lawsuit under the California Voting Rights Act to attempt to force the city to convert to by -district elections. If the City