Lodi City Council to hold first public hearing on district elections this week

The Lodi City Council will host the first of five public hearings on the city’s transition from at-large to district elections for city council members during Wednesday’s council meeting.

Spurred by the threat of a lawsuit from a civil rights organization alleging that the city was violating the California Voting Rights Act by diluting the Latino vote, the council recently voted to make the switch rather than face costly litigation.

In an at-large system, citizens can choose any council candidate in the city, but with district elections voters will only be able to choose from candidates in their respective districts.

During Wednesday’s initial public hearing, the council will receive an overview and take input regarding the process and criteria for drawing voting districts. They are also slated to consider adopting a resolution establishing legal criteria for drawing election districts in the city.

According to a report prepared Lodi City Attorney Janice Magdich and approved by Lodi City Manager Steve Schwabauer, the mandatory criteria for drawing districts requires population equality across all districts and compliance with the Federal Voting Rights Act.

The act prohibits districts that dilute minority voting rights and encourages a majority minority district. However, race cannot be a predominant factor or criteria when drawing districts, Magdich said.

When establishing districts, election code also allows for the consideration of future growth, boundaries of other political subdivisions, physical and visual geographical and topographical features and the avoidance of contests between incumbents, Magdich said.

The council may choose to consider some, all or none of these criteria, or make its own criteria to consider when establishing districts, according to Magdich.

The public will be able to suggest additional or alternative conditions for the council’s consideration during the meeting.

“I just hope they’ll come out and learn about the process,” Schwabauer said.

A second public hearing will be held on Jan. 17 and it will also focus on identifying neighborhoods within the city, communities of interest and factors that should be taken into consideration when drawing districts.

After the first two public hearings, Magdich said, several proposed voting district maps may be drawn and those along with qualified maps prepared by the public will be presented to council for consideration. A public hearing to comment on the maps and discuss an election sequence will be held on Jan. 21 and Feb. 7

“Hopefully, we draw the districts correctly the first time,” Schwabauer said. “We’ll be relying on outside experts to determine how the districts ought to be drawn consistent with the law, and it will be our endeavor to draw them right the first time rather than not.”

Schwabauer said he does not want Lodi to face a similar fate as that of Kern County, which is currently facing a lawsuit from the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund over the county’s 2011 redistricting plan.

“You’re always subject of being accused that you drew the districts in a gerrymandered fashion to try to drive the vote one direction or the other, and we’ll do our best to follow the law so that we’re not subject to challenge on that basis,” Schwabauer said.

Because each city has different geography, Schwabauer said Lodi will not be looking at other cities when drawing the districts.

The cost of the transition to district elections is estimated at $100,000. The city will also be required to reimburse MALDEF for its documented attorney fees and costs up to $30,000.

MALDEF sent the city a letter on Oct. 31 threatening litigation if the city didn’t switch from at-large to district elections, and alleged the city’s current system dilutes the Latino vote. The organization says it acted after receiving a complaint from a resident.

According to Schwabauer, Latinos make up roughly 20 percent of the voting-age population and 30 percent of the overall population in Lodi, which is about 65,000.

According to Magdich, no city has successfully challenged a California Civil Rights Act lawsuit.

Wednesday’s meeting will be held at 7 p.m. at Carnegie Forum.