City of San Jose, CA Redistricting Advisory Commission, 11 Sep 2021

Previous Meeting Next Meeting

⏯

youtube image

►

From YouTube: SEP 11, 2021 | Redistricting Advisory Commission District 7 Public Hearing

Description

City of San José, California
Redistricting Advisory Commission District 7 Public Hearing of September 11, 2021

Agenda https://sanjose.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=A&ID=872144&GUID=B7309459-E5F4-4D37-A264-6BBA247FD206

A

So it's like santa is a dead in 2010 and we're doing it again to make sure that our lines are balanced. and beyond.

A

Creating districts of equal population redistricting also serves as a way to empower local communities and preserve voting rights.. So this is the.

A

Structure that the city has chosen to take. this is a redistricting commission, like I said, a ten member redistricting commission to assist in conducting community outreach.. So the goals of this commission are conduct community outreach hearings, like the ones today identify communities of interest from the public and present a recommended map to city council, and these are the guidelines.

A

That we use in the redistricting process. this is.

A

A ranked criteria according to the fair maps act. so first and.

A

Foremost, each district has to be relatively equal in size.

A

and that's equal in people not citizens,, not voters., so we're talking total population 10 contiguous.. So this is a word you're really not going to hear outside of redistricting.. It basically means that you want to keep the entire district wonderful piece, and then you can draw it with one line, maintain communities of interest.. We're gonna be talking a lot more about what community of interest is, but an.

A

Example of a community or a definition of a community of interest includes a group of people, a neighborhood of made.

A

Up of similarly minded people who have similar policy concerns and would benefit from being maintained in a single district.. The next criteria is.

A

Follow city, county, local government lines and finally, keep districts compact., so these are here to prevent gerrymandering.. These are here.

A

To help keep the process transparent and above board.

A

So, let's get back to what a community of interest is and what that means for you.. So a community of interest is defined by the public.. I can't define that for you.. It is a way for you to talk about what makes your community unique..

A

What bonds do you share with your fellow community members.

A

And a way to think about it is it's: communities of interest.

A

are building blocks of districts.. This is supposed to be a subjective, open, ended.

A

Definition to be as inclusive as possible. and there are.

A

Protected classes according to the federal voting rights act., and that includes latinos,, asians, african-americans., but.

A

I do want to emphasize that, while communities of interest may include race,, it cannot be the predominant factor in drawing district boundaries.

A

And communities of interest., I wanted to show this slide to show you how diverse and how.

A

Wide communities of interest could be., so it includes things like historical communities, role and agricultural areas or downtown urban areas, neighborhoods, languages spoken. so this.. This is here.

A

To help you think about your own communities., so to better.

A

Talk about your own communities when you're testifying.

A

However, there are three groups.

A

Who are not considered communities of interest according to the fair maps act,, it explicitly prohibits these three categories from being considered as a community of.

A

Interest.- and that includes political, affiliation,, incumbents and political candidates., that is there to prevent incumbent, gerrymandering and political gerrymandering., so again,. We want to keep this an above board process and transparent and open to the public. and.

A

Then the next part is not prohibited by the fair max act..

A

It is just really difficult to.

A

Draw., so groups of similar minded people who do not share a similar geographic location or are city wide.. So when we are drawing lines, one of the goals is to protect communities of interests and if a community.

A

Of interest is it takes like 90.

A

100 percent of the city, then that's not super helpful., so whenever possible, please talk about the boundaries of your communities of interest and we'll get into that in a second.. So these are.

A

Three questions we like to ask people before they give their testimony.. This is a way to get thinking about your own communities and how you can best describe it to mission.. So the first question is: does the community have a shared culture characteristic or bond personal.

A

Stories are really powerful, especially when you're talking about things that are more cultural., so I've been hearing.

A

A lot of people talking about how their community have come together during cope at 19 or how their communities have come together to support each other during forest fires.. That's.

A

Those are just a couple of examples., but I've also heard of people talking about how there are annual events that their neighborhoods support, every year. and it's something that brings them together and it's this shared celebration.

A

So talking about bonds is really helpful. and geographic.

A

Location., so can you map your.

A

Community, if, whenever possible, giving street names,.

A

Giving boundaries landmarks to.

A

The commission, so we can map it?, it would be incredibly helpful. and then describe the community's relationship with the city of san jose and how it's affected by the policy decisions made by the city.

A

Council.- and we're going to get.

A

Into a couple of examples to.

A

Just get you thinking about it., so a group of renters who live downtown testifies to the city's. Redistricting commission.- would this be considered a community of interest only? think about it for a second. yes., so this.

A

Is easily mapped, right? so.

A

There downtown and they share similar policy concerns. a.

A

Part of town that has a historic nature, either as a former hub of business community or as an area that had been discriminated against through redlining.. Should the city's redistricting commission prioritize this historical area when drawing maps? yes. so.

A

Historical communities and areas are absolutely considered.

A

A community of interest and.

A

Additional. they have similar policy concerns., so this absolutely would qualify as a community of interest.. A group.

A

Of dog owners living in the suburbs banded together to push their local officials to put in a dog water found in their dog park.. Would this be considered a community of interest? yes.

A

So this definitely is they share a geographic location. they're, probably walking distance from this park, and they share a need for dog water.

A

From right.- and I do just want.

A

To point out that, going back to.

A

This slide, the last question.

A

Can you describe the community's relationship with this jurisdiction and the policy decisions made by elected officials?, so this.

A

Example was, instead of being the city. If this example was a commission redrawing, a local.

A

Community college, this likely would be considered a koi, because community colleges do not have jurisdiction over city.

A

Parks., so just something to keep in mind and then a.

A

Statewide group for people who are fans of san francisco giants testifies to the local city. Redistricting commission.-.

A

So this is not a community of interest.. This overlaps, the.

A

City. sorry. this overlaps.

A

The city and, unfortunately, the.

A

City also doesn't have much say over what happens with the san francisco giants., so it is not.

A

Applicable there. so let's talk.

A

About how you can best give your public testimony in a way that works for you, so you can do online, you can do it in person today.. You can do it on.

A

Maps., so we have multiple.

A

Methods for you to give your testimony. so the first one here it is the coy form community of interest form.. You can go to the redistricting web site that san jose has set up.

A

It is on there and we'll ask you step by step. questions everything that the city needs to know from you about your own.

A

Community., we also are asking.

A

For two different types of maps from the public., so the first one is the community of interest maps and we are.

A

Accepting that now. so the end of the process and then district based plans., so you can draw your own city council seats. If you wanted to.

A

however,, we are asking for that. Once the release of the data is.

A

Finalized and which we're expecting about september 20th.

A

So pretty soon and you will be.

A

Able to draw all of those on district you're all go through district or at the end of this presentation, and take you step by step on how you can draw your own communities using.. I love it., it's really user friendly. and once you hit.

A

Submit it goes directly to us and we'll be able to put that in public testimony and then.

A

Of course, if your in person, you should have these laminated paper maps with, I believe there.

A

Are neighborhoods on there and you can draw your own community that way in person.. Here's.

A

Another photo of it and.

A

Finally, this is the.

A

Redistricting, commission timeline, so you can see we already gone through quite a bit. This morning. focused on district 3 today or this afternoon focused district 7.

A

however,. Everyone from the public in san is welcome on any.

A

Of these. so we'll be giving the same speech all at every one of them., so all likely be back next weekend to and so.

A

September some 18th looks like it's the last day for it. these outreach hearings,. However, the public again is welcome to be a part of this every step of the way., and you can find out more.

A

About everything., so all of the information that I just talked about the plea form, district or.

A

That's all going to be on san jose's web site. and with that.

A

I am happy to give the district representation if you guys are ready for that.. Let me pull it.

A

Up one second., all right., so.

A

Here is destructor., you can go.

A

To the city of san jose and has.

A

10 city- council.- let me.

A

Actually at go to draw communities instead. these.

A

So it takes you directly to the city. and let me describe all.

A

These funds, so you know what they are. this and you just click on the map and allows you to move it around.. You can scroll in with either your mouse or these two buttons takes you out.. This brush is.

A

What allows you draw the.

A

Community of interest and.

A

You can see that you can change the brush size as well, so you can draw 100 blocks at the same.

A

Time or you can get really specific and draw one at this one at a time., and these are census blocks.. These are given to us by the u.s. census and.

A

You can also lock the community so that it won't change.. You.

A

Can also erase things if you went to far. so just like the.

A

Brush you can do one at a time.

A

Or a whole bunch of the same time, and you can name your.

A

Community for and then describe.

A

It., so I suggest talking about.

A

Or thinking about those questions that I asked earlier, what shared characteristics bonds, do you have? what makes you unique from the surrounding areas and then how.

A

Is your community impacted by the decisions made by city councils? so putting stuff like that in there would be incredibly helpful.. You can mark important places., so maybe.

A

This park area is something.

A

That is important to you and your community. and just like.

A

Describing the area of interest, you can name it as well, and.

A

Then describe why that's important to you and your community. and then this.

A

Magnifying glass, it just allows you to look more specific at the individual blocks.. You.

A

Can, of course, draw multiple.

A

Communities., so here's.

A

Another one. it can overlap.

A

If you wanted to., it's totally.

A

Ok and acceptable if you're communities of interest overlap with each other mean that.

A

Wouldn't work. and you can go.

A

Into the data layers and pull.

A

Up the different neighborhoods to help you orient yourself and.

A

Draw as well. and then we have.

A

Demographic links that you can look at., there's an evaluation layer, the citizen voting age population., that's what we use when we're evaluating voting rights, act related things., so.

A

That's why we have this in there and you can see that you.

A

Can change the different population to the community.

A

Than you want to look at. and.

A

Then, when you are happy with how the map looks,, you can save the target. san jose and.

A

Then you can name it as well.

A

You can also share using the.

A

Your code, do you can email this.

A

To us or email it to your friends? put facebook if we wanted to. so everything we.

A

Just did will be there perfect.

A

So that's how you use disruptor. and with that I give.

A

It back to the city.. Thank you.

B

Very much for that presentation. will the clerk.

B

Please announce the members of the public that wish to speak?.

B

There are no members of the public in person.. If you are a.

B

Member of the public and wish to speak on communities of interest on zoom. Please raise.

A

Your hand. using the zoom application, I see no hands.

B

Raising for comment. thank you.

B

Well, we will move to item three public comments spoke before, and this is the time for the public comment on the.

B

Commission from discussing any item that is not identified.

B

Each speaker will be given two minutes with the clear trees as.

B

The public speakers, where beekman I won't be coming.

B

Here., thank you for the meeting today. a public meeting today.

B

I guess I felt for this sort of.

B

District 7 meeting it would be nice to myself just to offer my worries about possible natural.

B

Disaster situations, the bay area and the next few years in the next five years and in the next decade I do. I've been.

B

Kind of saying it regularly.

B

for yourselves, hopefully it can be of help in how you will have.

B

To be making decisions on redistricting issues and, of course, the concepts of equity.

B

Should be important in the decision making of natural disaster preparedness and how you have to work and think.

B

Good luck with such an issue., I'm not exactly sure when the big one will be appearing.. I've been I've been guessing. It may be just a few years away in 2023, but I'm not really sure., but just to offer it to yourselves at this sort of time can give yourselves choices in how to judge your situation and and work and act accordingly and to work openly with such subject matter.

B

I hope can be of a just help and make the whole process more relaxed and understandable and less confused, and we can all be more open and direct with each other.. So thanks for your time.

B

Me learning to try to explain is such an odd thing to say, and hopefully make sense of it and as much as we can. and good luck in your efforts with all these issues. and thank you for the public meeting on a saturday. there's. No additional.

B

Public speakers, this meeting.

B

This meeting redistricting 484 00:22:32,001 --> 00:00:00,000 commission, is now under.