Remember! For background on why redistricting matters, what communities of interest are, and why public involvement is essential, you can visit LWVBC’s Redistricting Webpage.
Also, if you want to keep track, Common Cause’s Local Redistricting Checklist lists requirements and “best practices” for public outreach and hearings.
Meanwhile, this may be of interest:
City Council Updates
- Oroville -- now underway.
In Oroville, as in Chico, the City Council is deciding on new district lines with the help of a consulting firm. Unlike Chico, Oroville continues to elect a mayor on an at-large basis; so there are only 6 council districts. Based on the 2020 Census, Oroville has a population of 20,191. Each of the 6 districts, if evenly divided, would have a population of about 3,365. By law, the deviation can be no more than 10%. Click here to see the current district map with population deviation.
` When drawing new district lines and doing outreach and hearings, the Council must follow these legal criteria.
As required by the CA Election Code, the City of Oroville has posted a Redistricting Page with links to more information, and is holding hearings and a public workshop.
Upcoming Events at Oroville City Hall, 1735 Montgomery Street:
- Community Workshop on Wednesday, December 15, 5 – 7 PM
- City Council Meeting on Thursday, December 16, at 6 PM, scheduled to include live mapping.
- City Council Meeting on Thursday, January 6, at 6 PM, for further live mapping.
- City Council Meetings on January 18 and February 1 to complete the process.
Click here to view Council meetings live or to view past meetings on YouTube. You can also watch the Council live on Zoom by opening the agenda (when posted) and clicking the link.
How You Can Participate:
Attend the Community Workshop or a redistricting hearing in person. Email comments by 2 PM the day of a hearing to: publiccomment [at] cityoforoville.org
Draw a Community of Interest on-line
Download this Community of Interest form to be emailed, mailed or dropped off.
Find more details on the City’s Redistricting Page; see link above.
- Chico – getting started
The Chico City Council is drawing new district lines with the assistance of the consulting firm Arda Demographics. Unlike Oroville, Chico is not yet at the public outreach or map-drawing phase. According to an Enterprise-Record article published on Dec. 8, the “hard deadline” to complete the process is April 15. (The deadline is set by state law unless a charter city provides otherwise; see “legal criteria” link below.)
Here are the legal criteria the Council is required to follow when drawing new district lines and when doing community outreach.
Click here to see the current district map. The 2020 Census population of Chico is 103,165, so each district must have about 14,738 people. Claudio Gallegos of Arda Demographics told the Council on Dec. 7 that, while under “federal guidelines” a 10% deviation is permitted, a deviation of no more than 5% is “strongly encouraged.”
By law, there must be at least four hearings and one community workshop. Mr. Gallegos told the Council that his firm can provide community workshops, in person or virtual, where the public can learn how to use two different types of mapping tools to draw and submit maps.
No hearings or workshops have yet been announced.
Chico Unified School District Update
Three draft by-trustee area (district) maps are now posted on CUSD’s website along with much other information about the maps and the criteria used in drawing them.
The CUSD Board is scheduled to adopt a map on Wednesday, January 19, 2022.
