Lodi City Council seeks input on district elections
Hearing is second of five to be held on switching to district council elections
The Lodi City Council held the second of five public hearings in the process to switch the city’s at-large election system to a by-district election system during its Wednesday night meeting. The council made the decision to switch after receiving a letter from the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund claiming that the current at-large system was in violation of the California voting rights act and threatened legal action if the city did not switch to a by-district system.
During Wednesday night’s public hearing, the council received public input on identifying communities of interests. Council members agreed that they like each district to include parts of Downtown, and Councilwoman JoAnne Mounce said she wanted the Heritage District included in multiple districts as well.
Councilman Bob Johnson, who attended the meeting via phone, questioned whether the council was wasting its time holding the hearings due a lack of public input. Six people were in the audience Wednesday night, and no one was utilizing the interpreter hired by the city. City Attorney Janice Magdich informed Johnson that the city was required by law to hold the public hearings and include the public in the process of drawing the districts.
A few members of the public did give their input during the public comment portion.
Maria Serna said that Lodi should have five districts and a mayor that represents the entire city. She identified the Heritage District as an community of interest “because it is the original Lodi.” She said in that area there is a large Latino community, as well as a large number of seniors. Serna also wanted to include the Downtown area in at least three of the districts.
David Claxton, a Downtown business owner, said that he would like to see Downtown represented by as many council members as possible because of its importance in the city. He said the Downtown Business Alliance is having a meeting on Jan. 26 to discuss the situation.
According to Chalise Tilton with the National Demographical Corporation,
the demographics firm hired by the City of Lodi to assist with the process of creating districts, Lodians can go to
drawlodi.org for more information and to access map drawing tools to submit district proposals.
On the website, residents can use an interactive map viewer to examine population unit boundaries and draft maps. There is also an online map drawing tool that people can use to draw their maps as well, or print paper
maps and draw districts with a sharpie or a thick colored pen. Paper maps can also be picked up at city hall.
All maps must be submitted at city hall or via email at Lodi@NDCresearch.com. Maps must be submitted by Jan. 22 and only maps that meet the legal criteria will be chosen to be reviewed by council.
When drawing the maps Tilton said that the difference between the smallest and largest districts must be 1,243
people or fewer for a five district map. Each district in a five district map have between 11,805 and 13,048 and as close to 12,427 people per district as possible.
There is also an option to draw maps with four districts with at-large mayor position. However, Mounce said she was not a fan of having an at-large mayor, and Johnson and Councilman Mark Chandler agreed. Councilman Doug Kuehne was in favor of considering the idea. With the consensus, it was decided that they would remove the four district option from the site.
On Jan. 31, a third public hearing will be held to review the draft maps and discuss election sequencing.
In other business Wednesday night, the council postponed a 3 percent water rate increase until a rate study is completed. The rate study will take place over the course of the year and water rates will be re-evaluated in early 2019. Public Works staff recommended the increase to fund the phase eight of the water meter project.