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Contra Costa County officials held their first of several public hearings Tuesday on the county’s redistricting process, which is scheduled to be completed this fall.
County officials were originally expecting to receive data from the 2020 U.S. census in April to use for the redistricting process, but with federal officials pushing back census deadlines for many reasons, including the ongoing pandemic, new population data is not expected until next month at the earliest.
The county is estimated to have about 100,000 new residents since the last census in 2010, which would add roughly 20,000 people to each of the county’s five local election districts.
However, there is some wiggle room in how those new residents need to be allocated among the districts, according to former county administrator David Twa.
“When we talk about population equality, the law understands that it’s not going to be 100% equal,” Twa said during Tuesday’s Board of Supervisors meeting. “The law allows a deviation from the mean of not more than plus-or-minus 5%.”
The county will also be required under the state’s redistricting guidelines to limit the division of “communities of interest.” This not only includes strict boundaries like those of cities and school districts, but also more abstract borders between certain demographics like varying income levels, environmental conditions and economic situations.
County officials will be required to hold a minimum of four public redistricting hearings before adopting a final map, including at least two meetings after the final map options have been drawn and one either on a weekend or after 6 p.m. on a weeknight.
“We will seek community input in selecting the next district map for supervisorial districts in our county and look forward to engaging the public in this important endeavor,” Board of Supervisors Chair Diane Burgis said in a statement.
County residents can give feedback on the process and suggest communities of interest and potential district maps at the county’s dedicated redistricting website.
The county is required to complete the process of drawing a new electoral map by Dec. 15. The next public hearing is scheduled for October.
