Author: Yongho Kim

City council members throughout Orange County are choosing new election district maps that will determine voters’ representation in town and candidates’ political futures for the next ten years. 

But many cities have yet to make the final decision. 

This year also marks the first redistricting process for many Orange County cities, which moved away from the practice of having voters pick their city councils in a citywide election since the last redistricting cycle.

In most cases, the change came after lawsuits arguing city-wide elections diluted the voting power of a community of interest. 

Meanwhile, questions have arisen of whether to forgo the redistricting process entirely in some localities such as the City of Garden Grove – which moved to district elections in 2016 – and the Garden Grove Unified School District.

It’s one of a few localities which opted to forgo the redistricting process this time around, arguing their jurisdictions’ populations haven’t changed substantially upon review of updated U.S. Census Bureau data.

The Garden Grove Unified School District’s elected Board of Trustees will consider skipping the process at today’s meeting. Click here for information on how to access it.

[Read: Garden Grove Officials’ Push to Skip Redistricting Altogether Jolts Alarm in City Spanning Little Saigon]

New maps this year are based on the 2020 census data, and will go into effect in time for the 2022 election. 

The redistricting process in general can be a useful sounding board of what the community looks like and what its varying interests are, said Mindy Romero, director of the Center for Inclusive Democracy at the University of Southern California.

“Even if an area’s demographics didn’t shift very much, the civic engagement landscape could shift — new community groups could form, more people may have gotten involved or mobilized for their interests over a given amount of time,” Romero said in a Monday phone interview.

Santa Ana & San Juan Capistrano to Hold Redistricting Public Hearings

Today, the Santa Ana city council is expected to hold their sixth public hearing on redistricting at 7 p.m. during their meeting.

In 2018, the city switched from at-large elections to a by-ward election system and held their first elections under the new system in 2020, according to the city website.

Many maps are still on the table for what Santa Ana will look like and the deadline for the final map choice is April 17.

While some of the county’s larger cities are nearly finished figuring out what their future will look like, other smaller cities are still figuring it out. 

San Juan Capistrano City Council members are continuing their process Tuesday night, reviewing census data prepared by a contractor to begin drawing up possible maps and listening to public concerns about where they think the lines should be. 

The city has already held two workshops discussing what the new maps could look like, and is set to talk about the issue during every city council meeting through March 15, 2022 according to the city’s staff report. 

The council meeting starts at 5 p.m. Tuesday evening, and is the second item on the agenda.

Anaheim May Get Three Majority Latino Districts

Last week, Anaheim City Council members narrowed down their selections to four maps at their fourth public hearing for redistricting, with a fifth map also going to be drawn up for consideration.

Residents however can still submit maps.

Back in 2016, the city adopted its first district boundary map based on census data from 2010 and now must be redrawn using data from the 2020 census.

Currently, only two of the the six districts in Anaheim have a majority latino citizen voting age population despite over 50% of Anaheim residents being Latino.

“I’m looking forward to having a minimum of three districts that are Latino that way at least the districts will reflect the population that we serve,” said Councilman Jose Diaz at the Jan. 25 meeting.

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Maps 104 and 106 would carve out two districts with a majority Latino citizen voting age population.

One of the maps still under consideration, named 114, would create three districts that are a majority Latino by citizen voting age population.

However, it would split up Platinum Triangle, which Councilman Stephen Faessel spoke out against doing at last week’s meeting and said the city could modify the map so it doesn’t break up the area.

Councilman Trevor O’Neil spoke out against districting and said it creates competing interests and “vulcanizes” issues – creating scenarios where council members put their districts before what’s best for the entire city.

“That said we have districts and I’m not here to take them apart,” he said. 

Councilmembers also voiced support for keeping the boundaries as close to the ones already in place as much as possible.

“They served us well.” Councilman Jose Moreno said at the meeting. “District one and two hadn’t had a council representative in 22 years, until district elections and now we see the power of that, two representatives up here … who have a voice from a part of our city that didn’t have one for 22 years.” 

Later on in the meeting, District Two representative Gloria Ma’ae pushed back on the notion that West Anaheim had been voiceless for two decades until the city started to hold elections by district.

“I’ve been involved for 20 years and we had the entire Council representing us, every single resident in the city,” she said at the meeting. “I recognize now there are some advantages to districting, but I felt very good about the representation we had back then.”

Ma’ae was appointed by the council to replace Jordan Brandman after controversy led to his resignation last year.

Map 115, which is no longer under consideration, would have divided the Little Arabia community as well as other neighborhoods including the resort district.

While the council has never held a discussion on recognizing Little Arabia despite years of community calls to do so, Mayor Harry Sidhu was against dividing the Arab community.

​​Brandon Pho is a Voice of OC reporter and corps member with Report for America, a GroundTruth initiative. Contact him at bpho@voiceofoc.org or on Twitter @photherecord.

Noah Biesiada is a Voice of OC Reporting Fellow. Contact him at nbiesiada@voiceofoc.org or on Twitter @NBiesiada.

Hosam Elattar is a Voice of OC Reporting Fellow. Contact him at helattar@voiceofoc.org or on Twitter @ElattarHosam.

The Orange County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday stepped into a feud between the Orange County Board of Education and a committee that oversees election maps, voting 3-2 to give the School Board “exclusive authority” to adjust its own voter redistricting.

But supervisors who dissented noted that their vote carries no legal authority over the voting map, and a county attorney told supervisors that their vote could lead to the county becoming involved in the Board’s ongoing litigation over the issue.

That supervisors vote, held early Tuesday, prompted the Board to call for an emergency meeting at 2 p.m. today, where board members will decide on whether to adopt a voting map they created in December. That map, created by demographers hired by the Board, was rejected recently by a county committee that oversees new election maps for school districts, including the OCBE.

RELATED: Orange County Board of Education voting map nixed by county committee

The Board filed a lawsuit over the issue on Jan. 20, asking the court to prevent the Orange County Committee on School District Organization from rejecting its preferred map. On Monday, Jan. 31, Orange County Superior Court Judge David A. Hoffer ruled against the Board, denying its request.

But early Tuesday, Feb.1, county Supervisors Don Wagner and Lisa Bartlett asked their colleagues to pass a resolution backing the Board’s authority to set its own voting map. They were joined by Supervisor Andrew Do.

“This is about local control,” Bartlett said.

Supervisor Katrina Foley, who voted with Supervisor Doug Chaffee against the resolution, questioned the appropriateness of getting involved. She also asked whether their resolution, which is typically a symbolic move, has any impact on Monday’s court ruling.

RELATED: Orange County School Board asks court to intervene in dispute about voting maps

Leon Page, Orange County’s counsel, said once the county’s resolution is approved, “my duty would be to zealously advocate” for the supervisors’ position, and that could mean getting involved in litigation between the OCBE and the county committee. Page added that the resolution opens the door to a county role in the pending litigation “to specify the manner of selection of members of the board of education.”

“It would be my obligation to then seek that that view is adopted by the court.”

Foley countered: “Where does it say that in this resolution? Because I don’t see us directing you to do anything.” After noting that a judge ruled against the Board, and that a vote by the supervisors doesn’t carry weight on this issue, she added “this just feels like politics.”

The Orange County Board of Education is an elected board made up of five members who represent different regions of the county. Like other elected governing agencies, the agency’s voting maps are redrawn every ten years to reflect new data from the U.S. Census.

The board approved a redistricting map on Dec. 8 and took it two days later to County Committee on School District Organization for approval.

The 11-member county committee is mandated by state law and made up of current and former school board members to help set boundaries for school districts.

But instead of approving the map preferred by the Board, the committee approved a different voting map submitted by a member of the public.

The four-member majority of the Board argue that the committee is biased against them and wants to see incumbents lose when they stand for reelection on June. 7.

The Board started its meeting at 2 p.m. Tuesday and went into a closed session.

Please check back for updates later today. 

Register staff writer Sean Emery contributed to this report. 

One of the world’s largest Vietnamese communities outside Vietnam is also one of the most-watched voting groups in Orange County and the U.S. during election years. 

This year, the decennial act of redrawing electoral district maps – thus redistributing an area’s voter representation – faces unique hurdles and unwillingness in some cities and school districts within the span of Orange County’s Little Saigon.

At the heart of Little Saigon, for example, City of Westminster officials are in the process of redistricting but have less time than other cities. They’re chasing two types of district maps, faced with two dueling scenarios pending the outcome of a special election they set into motion for this summer which could create a brand new council seat and voting district.

Meanwhile, elected officials at the Garden Grove Unified School District will decide whether to skip the redistricting process entirely at today’s meeting. Click here for information on how to access it.

In November last year, officials at the Westminster School District voted unanimously to forego this redistricting cycle, claiming an exemption to the process on the basis that the district’s population changed minimally upon review of its most recent, 2020 population census numbers.

Council members overseeing the City of Garden Grove – an integral organ of Little Saigon – also at one point tried to skip the process last year for a similar reason but ultimately pulled a proposal to do so following a wave of pushback from residents, activists and community groups.

[Read: Garden Grove Officials’ Push to Skip Redistricting Altogether Jolts Alarm in City Spanning Little Saigon]

These local bodies are opting to skip redistricting on the argument that their jurisdictions’ populations haven’t changed substantially either since the last census count or the last time they drew their districts.

On the Garden Grove Unified School District agenda for today’s board meeting, “it is recommended that the Board adopt Resolution No. 14 which finds that the trustee area boundaries do not require adjustment based on the results of the 2020 census …”

Similarly in the City of Garden Grove, officials argued that no redrawn maps were necessary due to the minimal population change per the most recent census results.

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These are maps that in many cases have been in place for years and would bind the community to the same district voting lines for the next 10. 

Garden Grove Councilmember Kim Nguyen was one official in town who initially supported forgoing the redistricting process last year. 

After all, Nguyen said in a Monday phone interview, the city’s current district map is one she proposed and got approved back in 2016, when the city had to move from citywide elections to district elections after losing a voting rights lawsuit which argued the town’s Latino voting power on the east side had been diluted.

Nguyen, who is both Vietnamese and Latina, became the city’s first Latina council member after her election in 2016. Her map, adopted in 2016, was created alongside a coalition of community groups. Nguyen’s now running for Orange County Supervisor in the board’s new District 2. 

Garden Grove’s voting-age population was nearly 45% Asian American and Pacific Islander, 27% Latino and 26% White in 2019, according to data gathered at the time. 

“I think the (current) map follows the communities of interest that this whole process was created for, and adjustments to those lines can hurt the population we aimed to uplift. I’m trying to protect the east side of Garden Grove — that was the whole premise of this lawsuit,” Nguyen said. 

Nguyen added the redistricting topic is expected to come back to the council sometime this month.

Yet numbers alone can’t give the full picture of how a community has changed, says Mindy Romero, director of the Center for Inclusive Democracy at the University of Southern California.

Transformations in the electorate can happen in other ways, beyond population size and the limited demographics captured by the decennial U.S. Census count, Romero said in a Monday phone interview.

“Even if an area’s demographics didn’t shift very much, the civic engagement landscape could shift — new community groups could form, more people may have gotten involved or mobilized for their interests over a given amount of time,” Romero said, adding that census data also doesn’t include every type of demographic.

“That’s why there should be an open conversation and opportunity for all communities of interest to be part of the decision-making process,” Romero said. “When you go through the redistricting process, it gives the opportunity for local groups and communities of interest to have their say in the new restructuring of those lines.

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Orange County’s Little Saigon has been eyed closely during the state-level redistricting process, a process which opened up concerns that Little Saigon’s voting power would get divided in elections where the area’s interests may compete with others in California. 

[Read: Some Early CA Redistricting Map Sketches Raise Concerns Little Saigon Could Be Split Up]

The question of dividing the community between different districts becomes more intricate during such debates at the municipal level, for cities and school districts – a question of who, within Little Saigon itself, should be split representation-wise from who. 

While known for having a large Vietnamese population, cities and school districts within Little Saigon also have considerable Latino and white populations.

For many California cities, the redistricting process must be completed by April 17. 

The City of Westminster may have less time.

A ballot measure this June will ask voters in town whether they want the Westminster mayor’s office to go from a citywide elected position to a rotational one amongst the council members.

Voters will also decide whether to turn the existing mayor seat into an entirely new council member district rather than one elected at large – meaning the number of voting districts in town would go from four to five.

Both of those questions are under one ballot proposal.

The dueling scenarios have city officials in a scramble to not just ensure the four-district map is ready to go, but to also ensure that – in the event the ballot measure passes – City Hall can finalize the new five-district map in time for candidate nominations to begin.

Thus, acting City Clerk Lucie Colombo in a Monday phone interview said the city plans to bring the maps up for council approval on Feb. 23. 

But officials can’t gather all the necessary materials until the results of the ballot measure are certified. 

“The Registrar of Voters has up to 30 days to certify the election. Assuming they take the full 30 days, we’re gonna cut it very close,” said Colombo. 

The dash to clear this time window also comes as City Hall is in the midst of a years-long leadership vacuum – one where the old city clerk, Christine Cordon, has had to fill in as City Hall’s top-ranking executive, the city manager.

Still, council members in town such as Kimberly Ho don’t seem too worried. 

“We are just waiting for staff to agendize it (the maps),” Ho said in a Monday phone interview. Though she acknowledged the city “has a lot of work ahead.”

Westminster’s current mayor is Tri Ta, who along with Councilmember Charlie Nguyen has clashed with the council majority consisting of council members Ho, Tai Do and Carlos Manzo. The council majority supported placing the issue on the ballot.  

“With the short period of time, I do not know how the community can submit comments or inputs to the two processes,” Ta said in a written response to Voice of OC questions Monday.

“It’s a really narrow window but we are coordinating with the county to make sure we meet the deadlines,” Colombo said.

By TESS SHEETS | tsheets@scng.com |PUBLISHED: January 17, 2022 at 5:23 p.m. | UPDATED: January 18, 2022 at 9:30 a.m.

With new census data in hand, Orange leaders have begun the once-a-decade process of adjusting voting boundaries, but some residents are concerned the existing district representing the El Modena neighborhood and communities west of the 55 Freeway could be split up, possibly diluting the voice of the Latino residents in the area.

With nearly 20 maps submitted before a public hearing last month, the City Council is now focusing on four to consider further. Only one of those proposes keeping the existing District 5 – stretching from South Tustin Avenue to Hewes Avenue – intact.

Sam Rodriguez, whose family has lived in the historic El Modena enclave for generations, called the proposals that split up District 5 “a power grab,” saying the maps “gerrymander, and they dilute the Latino vote.”

But city officials note the council has not declared a vote on any particular map, and residents can still submit proposals through the end of the month for consideration.

From cities up through Congress, the recent federal census has kicked off required redistricting efforts to adjust boundaries in order to even out the representation of populations.

Between the 2010 and 2020 census counts, Orange, along with many California cities, was challenged for how its representatives were chosen. As the result of a lawsuit over its at-large voting system, the city moved to a by-district election process, where council members are selected by voters in their district, instead of by all voters citywide. The idea is a smaller voting area creates the opportunity for minority communities to gain representation and makes campaigning for council a less expensive prospect.

With the new census data, the council is looking now at adjustments to the six districts that were created – the mayor is still chosen by all voters.

Rodriguez said he reached out to Malibu-based attorney Kevin Shenkman after the council’s December meeting, concerned about the possibility District 5 would be split, losing ground made in giving the Latino community a voice in city government. Shenkman, who sued the city in 2019 over its at-large election system, sent a letter to Orange’s city attorney last week, saying the three maps proposing to break up the district would “significantly reduce the Latino proportion.”

The three proposed maps would reduce the voting-age Latino population in the district to closer to 30%, he said. Leaving District 5 as is would create a 59% Latino majority, 40% of whom are voting age, he said.

Shenkman stopped short of threatening the city with legal action in his letter, but he said recent elections resulted in a Latina member on the council from the district, Ana Gutierrez, and he hoped Orange “will not attempt to reverse that progress by diluting the Latino vote in this new round of redistricting.”

Rodriguez said “prior to the lawsuit, we would have never had a chance to run a Latina or Latino from the barrio.”

“The city has been playing games, because they want to retain power,” Rodriguez said. “They think that they can change the maps here and there for the next election.”

Gutierrez noted the city’s leaders have not yet voted on a final map, but said in a text message she “will abide by the laws that regulate this process” and hopes other council members do the same. Voting rights law prohibits diluting the voice of a minority group, such as through deliberately splitting up – or packing – a district.

Mayor Mark Murphy said at least some existing district boundaries will likely change because of population growth in District 1 between the last census and now, which will need to be evened out.

“Some of that population has got to go somewhere, and it may affect all the districts, it may affect the majority of them,” he said. “I just don’t know yet.”

City spokesman Paul Sitkoff said a demographer is making some edits on the maps selected by the City Council at the December meeting, and officials didn’t want to comment on how the districts might shake out until those come back for consideration in February.

City officials have not responded to Shenkman’s letter, Sitkoff said.

The submission period for residents to turn in more proposals also remains open, he said.

To residents concerned about the process, Murphy said “just say stay involved.”

“It’s very premature to start analyzing things until we get everything in front of us,” he said.

The final deadline for residents to submit maps for consideration is Jan. 28. Another public hearing will take place Feb. 8, and the City Council is expected to choose the final districts in March.