Draft Council District maps available to review on City website

Article

Draft maps for proposed City Council election districts are now available on the City of Redlands website.

A public hearing is scheduled for Feb. 15 when the City Council will review the available draft maps and could recommend one for final adoption on April 17. The public will have the opportunity at that hearing to speak on the draft maps. The adopted map will determine City Council District boundaries for the next decade.

The draft maps and more details on the adoption schedule can be found at https://drawredlands.org/schedule/.

Every 10 years, local governments use new data from the Census to evaluate and potentially redraw voting district lines to reflect how local populations have changed. State law requires cities such as Redlands to engage communities in the redistricting process by holding public hearings and conducting public outreach. The overall purpose of redistricting is to review current district boundaries and, where necessary, redraw boundaries to address any changes in population concentration.

The 2020 U.S. Census data that was released at the end of September 2021 shows how district populations have changed.

Under state and federal law, voting districts must meet the following criteria:

  • Each Council District must contain approximately the same number of inhabitants.
  • Council District borders must be drawn in a manner that complies with the Federal Voting Rights Act.
  • A Council District must not be drawn with race as the predominant factor in violation of the principles established by the United States Supreme Court in Shaw v. Reno, 509 U.S. 630 (1993), and its progeny.

The finalized map will define the five City of Redlands election district boundaries and determine how City Council members are elected for the next 10 years.

Redlands residents can learn more about the process for drawing new election districts at https://drawredlands.org/.

Any questions may be directed to Tricia Munoz via email at tmunoz@cityofredlands.org or by phone at (909) 335-4755 ext. 9.