BACKGROUND
After each decennial census, local governments must use new census data to redraw their City Council district lines to reflect how local populations have changed. Federal law requires that districts be nearly equal in population. The Fair Maps Act, Assembly Bill 849 (2019) requires cities and counties to engage their communities in the redistricting process by holding public hearings and/or workshops and doing public outreach, including to non-English-speaking communities.
David Ely of Compass Demographics, the firm that assisted the City in establishing its first City Council district map is guiding the City in establishing district boundaries based on the 2020 Census and in compliance with state and federal law.
Community Engagement
In accordance with the City’s redistricting community engagement plan (Attachment 1), the City conducted its first public hearing on January 11, 2022 and a public workshop on January 29, 2022 to inform the public about the districting process and hear from the community on what factors should be taken into consideration while creating district boundaries. The public was requested to provide input regarding communities of interest and other local factors that should be considered while drafting district maps. During the public hearing and public workshop a summary of redistricting law, criteria to be considered and overview of 2020 Census data were provided.
During the public workshop and public hearings on January 11, 2022 and February 8, 2022, Mr. Ely also reviewed the current City Council district map and shared that when the final 2020 Census data was published, it showed only a modest increase in the City’s population leaving the existing City Council voting districts well within allowable population parameters. Mr. Ely further confirmed that the process the City undertook to establish the existing districts complied with the requirements codified in the Fair Maps Act.
During the public workshop and second public hearing on February 8, 2022, Mr. Ely provided instructions on how the public can use mapping tools posted on the City’s redistricting webpage to create and submit proposed district maps and explanatory comments about plans that are submitted.
During the redistricting workshop and public hearings, several speakers spoke in favor of adjusting boundaries between existing Districts 3 and 4 so that the districts would be separated horizontally, or east and west, rather than vertically along Brookhurst Street. Speakers noted this would keep important communities of interest together, including Little Saigon, mobile home parks, multi-family residences, and lower–income populations.
During the workshop and public hearings, Mr. Ely requested that anyone interested in providing maps email the City Clerk at cityclerk@ggity.org no later than the last public hearing date scheduled on March 8, 2022 at the City Council Meeting. He emphasized that the earlier proposed maps and related comments are submitted the better so they can be included in the various considerations through the redistricting process.
Map Proposals
On February 18, 2022, the Garden Grove Redistricting Committee (GGRC) submitted a map proposal, generally consistent with comments shared by speakers at the redistricting workshop and first two public hearings. The GGRC draft map meets all the legal requirements for potential implementation and was shared with the City Council at the February 22, 2022 public hearing. The draft map, which is the current City Council district map was also presented and discussed at the February 22, 2022 public hearing. The City has not received any additional map proposals from members of the public up to the date this report was published.