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

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Next Steps At the October 22, 2018, and November 19, 2018, City Council meetings, the City Council will conduct public hearings to seek public input and provide direction on communities and criteria to be considered while drafting district maps. Either at or following these two hearings, the City Council would be asked to provide direction on whether to proceed with by -district elections (and for how many districts) or to pursue another alternative option. If the City Council continues with by -district elections, draft district maps and proposed election sequencing will be posted to the City website and available at City Hall in December, and those maps (and any possible new or revised maps) will be discussed at City Council hearings on in January and February of 2019, with the preferred map adopted by ordinance by March 31, 2019. The City has retained the services of a demographer firm, National Demographics Corporation, to assist the City with preparing draft maps and navigating this process. FISCAL IMPACT The fiscal impact of voluntarily converting to by -district elections is estimated to be approximately $175,000. The demographic and election consultants' costs are anticipated to be approximately $60,000. Publication notices, translation fees for City communications, and the cost to have interpreters at all public hearings are anticipated to be $5,000. The estimated cost to place a ballot measure on the March 2020 Primary ballot is $70,000. Special legal fees could be incurred for additional analysis and public hearings but are not anticipated to exceed $10,000. In addition, the City will be required to reimburse Mr. Shenkman up to $30,000 for his documented attorney's fees and costs. Should the Council choose not to voluntarily convert to by -district elections and defend the threatened lawsuit, the costs and attorneys' fees would almost certainly exceed $1,000,000 (and could be far in excess of that amount, based on the experience of other jurisdictions). This would be a General Fund liability and a significant unbudgeted expense. ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW This activity is not a project under CEQA as defined in CEQA Guidelines, section 15378, because it has no potential for resulting in either a direct or foreseeable physical change in the environment.