This week, the Mendocino County Board of Supervisors voted to create a five member  Community-based Advisory Redistricting Commission (ARC). In addition to facilitating and seeking public input from the residents of Mendocino County, the ARC will advise and assist the Board of Supervisors with redrawing the supervisorial district boundaries. The Board of Supervisors invites applications from residents of Mendocino County who are interested in serving on the five member ARC and are willing to commit to attending several public workshops and Board of Supervisors meetings beginning in mid-August through mid-December, 2021.   

 

Every ten years, local governments use new official census data to redraw their district lines to reflect how local populations have changed. The County is informed that final census data will not be received until approximately September 24, 2021, with the State of California needing an additional month to adjust the data for all jurisdictions to account for incarcerated persons by the County of their last known home address. In spite of these unusual delays in final census data, Elections Code still requires that the boundaries of the supervisorial districts shall be adopted by the Board of Supervisors no later than December 15, 2021.

 

In adopting updated supervisorial districts, the ARC and Board must comply with many requirements.  In summary, districts must be substantially equal populations per district and comply with the Federal Voting Rights Act.  Newly revised State law criteria requires the following in order of priority:

 

1.         Geographically contiguous districts (i.e., the County may not draw two districts that only join at a single point).

2.         Geographic integrity of local neighborhoods or communities shall be respected in a manner that minimizes its division (i.e., a population that shares common social or economic interests that should be included within a single district for purposes of its effective and fair representation).

3.         Geographic integrity of a city or town shall be respected in a manner that minimizes its division.

4.         Easily identifiable boundaries that follow natural or artificial barriers (rivers, streets, highways, rail lines, etc.), and streets.

5.         Lines shall be drawn to encourage geographic compactness (i.e., not bypassing one group of people to reach another group of people).

 

 Application Process

All appointees to the ARC must be residents of Mendocino County and may not be an elected official, family member of an elected official, or paid campaign staff of an elected official. Interested applicants are invited to apply online at www.mendocinocounty.org/redistricting  or request a hard copy by contacting (707) 463-4441. Applications are due no later than August 6, 2021. Applications can be submitted by emailing redistricting@mendocinocounty.org or by U.S. Mail to:

Mendocino County Executive Office

501 Low Gap Rd., Rm. 1010

Ukiah, CA 95482

 

 

The Board of Supervisors will make appointments on or after August 17, 2021.

 

NOTE: Please be aware that all information provided in the Appointment of Interest Application is subject to public disclosure.

 

To receive Redistricting information, please go to: https://www.mendocinocounty.org/community/enotification

Download the press release here.