HomeMy WebLinkAbout7664 RESOLUTION NO. 7664
RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF REDLANDS
ADOPTING LINE DRAWING CRITERIA FOR ESTABLISHING COUNCIL
DISTRICT BOUNDARIES
WHEREAS, the City Council of the City of Redlands ("The City") was elected under an
"at large" election system whereby Councilmembers were elected by voters of the entire City;
and
WHEREAS, the City Council is considering a change to the "by district" elections
whereby each Councihnember must reside within the designated district boundary and is elected
only by voters of that district; and
WHEREAS, California Goveriunent Code section 34886, effective January 1, 2016,
permits the City Council of a city with a population of fewer than 100,000 people to change the
city's method of election by ordinance with certain formalities to a "by-district" system in which
each City Council member is elected only by the voters in the district in which the candidate
resides; and
WHEREAS, the Federal Voting Rights Act (42 U.S.C. Section 1973) prohibits the use of
any voting qualification, or prerequisite to voting, or standard practice or procedure in a malmer
which results in a denial or abridgement of the right of any citizen of the United States to vote on
account of race or color; and
WHEREAS, the California Voting Rights Act (California Elections Code Section 14025-
14032) was enacted to implement the California constitutional guarantees of equal protection and
the right to vote and identifies nonexclusive factors that can be considered in analyzing whether
a violation of the CVRA exists, including with respect to the reliance on an at large voting
system; and
WHEREAS, federal law and the equal protection clause require that each district be equal
in population to ensure compliance with the "one person, one vote"rule; however, deviations
less than five percent [5%] greater than or less than the ideal, for a total of ten percent [10%]
deviation are presumptively constitutional under the equal protection clause where required to
meet an official criteria; and
WHEREAS, the City Council has instructed its demographer and city staff to develop
draft snaps that fully comply with legal requirements and intends to provide official criteria for
any needed deviations.
NOW, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF REDLANDS
to hereby adopt the following criteria to guide the establishment of districts for council elections
AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. Each Council District shall contain a nearly equal number of inhabitants; and
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Section 2. Council District borders shall be drawn in a manner that complies with the
Federal Voting Rights Act; and
Section 3. Each council district shall not be drawn with race as the predominate factor in
violation of the principles established by the United States Supreme Court in Shaw v. Reno, 509
U.S. 630 (1993), and its progeny;
Section 4. Council districts shall consist of contiguous territory in as compact form as
possible; and
Section 5. Council districts shall respect communities of interest as much as possible; and
Section 6. Council district borders shall follow visible natural and roan-made geographical
and topographical features as inuch as possible; and
Section 7. District borders shall respect the previous choices of city voters by avoiding the
creation of head-to-head contests between Councilmembers previously elected by the voters of the
City, insofar as this does not conflict with Federal or State Law.
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ADOPTED, SIGNED .A TS APPROVED this 16th day c)fAugust, 2016.
Paul W. Fastin, Mayor
ATTEST:
A
Sam Irwin, City Clerk
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7600-769W7664-C ota mil Disuart Cry a6on('61croaoA:)cx 3
I, Sarn Irwin, City Clerk of the City of Redlands, hercIby certifies that the -foregoing,resolution was
adopted by the City Council, at a regular niecting thereof, held on the 16th day of August, 2016
by the following vote:
AYES: Councilmenibers Harrison, Gilbreath, arich, 'fames; Mayor Foster
NOES: one
ABSENT: None
ABs,rAIN: one
............
City Clerk, City of Redlands
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