Supervisorial redistricting process underway; final map to be accepted by end of November
- Elizabeth Larson
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — Every 10 years, with the arrival of U.S. Census numbers, boundaries for federal, state and local jurisdictions undergo required adjustments based on population changes.
That work is going on right now with the California Citizens Redistricting Commission on the state level, which is responsible for the congressional, State Senate, State Assembly and State Board of Equalization district lines.
Community college districts also must draw new boundaries for their trustee districts.
At the county level, the Board of Supervisors is now engaged in redrawing the district boundaries for its five districts.
The board is due to have four meetings on the redistricting process, and has so far held two, one during its regular meeting on Aug. 31 and a special, stand-alone meeting on Saturday, Oct. 2. The video for the second meeting is posted on this page.
Two more meetings are planned for Nov. 2 and 30.
The county’s consultant, Margaret Long, facilitated the Oct. 2 meeting, which was focused on communities of interest.
The California Constitution defines a community of interest as “a contiguous population which shares common social and economic interests that should be included within a single district for purposes of its effective and fair representation. Examples of such shared interests are those common to an urban area, a rural area, an industrial area, or an agricultural area, and those common to areas in which the people share similar living standards, use the same transportation facilities, have similar work opportunities, or have access to the same media of communication relevant to the election process. Communities of interest shall not include relationships with political parties, incumbents, or political candidates.”
Long said at that time that the county was still waiting to get all of the final population information, primarily adjustments to the prison population, which the state is now requiring be attributed to the last county of residence.
She reviewed communities of interest in Lake County, and gave examples including tribal lands, the community of Buckingham, the Rivieras in Kelseyville, and certain apartment complexes with similar characteristics.
The census data was delivered by Sept. 30. From there, the timeline includes maps beginning to be published on Oct. 22, the projected adjustment due to prisoners in California on Oct. 30, Lake County’s final map to be ready for adoption on Nov. 30, ahead of the Dec. 15 map adoption deadline.
Long encouraged people to submit input, with community input a key activity for October.
It was reported that, as of that meeting, the county had received no emailed input on the redistricting.
Registrar of Voters Maria Valadez noted during the meeting that one of the toughest issues the county faced 10 years ago was keeping communities of interest together as much as possible.
She said districts 3 and 4 had to gain and lose the most residents during the last redistricting process.
That’s because Valadez said it has to be one person, one vote.
Carolyn Walker, who works with Long’s firm, reported the current supervisorial district population counts:
• District 1 — 13,294;
• District 2 — 14,311;
• District 3 — 13,905;
• District 4 — 13,821;
• District 5 — 12,708.
With Lake County’s current population divided five ways, each district should have 13,633 residents, officials said.
Long said the goal is to get those district population counts as even as possible. While the law requires getting the districts within 10% of that even number, she said a good goal is within 3 to 4%.
How to participate in redrawing the lines
Community members can draw maps to demonstration communities of interest with an online GIS tool here.
Instructions are provided when the map is launched, and Help is available using the “question mark” icon at the upper right.
To draw boundaries of a community of interest using the GIS map:
• Zoom into the area of Lake County where your community of interest is located (using a computer mouse, fingers on a touchscreen device and/or the “+” and “-” buttons in the upper left of the screen).
• Use the “Draw” function (paintbrush and artist’s palette icon at the upper right) to define boundaries.
• Once boundaries are drawn, select the printer icon at the upper right of the screen. This will launch a menu on the right side of the screen to create a PDF file that can then be saved and emailed to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or printed and delivered in person or by mail to the County Administrative Office, ATTN: Redistricting 2021, 255 N. Forbes St., Lakeport, CA 95453.
Residents also can use the GIS tool to locate the area of their community of interest and print their map, and then draw the boundaries on with an ink pen, for example, and scan and email or mail their map to the above address.
The next meetings in the redistricting process will take place at 6 p.m. Nov. 2, at which time draft maps will be presented. The Zoom link is here; the pass code is 310792.
At the final meeting, to be held at 9 a.m. Nov. 30, the board will consider adopting the final map for the newly drawn districts. The Zoom link is here: pass code is 597249.
More information about Lake County’s redistricting process, in both English and Spanish, is available here.
General feedback or questions also can be sent to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.