District boundaries to be discussed at three public hearings Three public hearings will be held to determine the boundaries for future City Council elections. The hearings are scheduled for Monday, April 6, April 20 and May 4. All hearings will be held during the regular session of the City Council meetings, which begins at 7 p.m. and all will be held at City Hall, 707 W. Acequia Ave. The City of Visalia must develop five City Council districts prior to the 2016 City Council election. Both legal and optional criteria were approved by the Council at its Aug. 4, 2014 meeting with Resolution 2014-34. The legal requirements are: equal population; comply with the Federal Voting Rights Act, and; race cannot be the ‘predominate factor.’ The criteria approved by Council to develop districts include: Communities of interest, include school and park-connected neighborhoods, rural or urban populations, city planning areas, social interests and agricultural, industrial, or service industry interests; visible features; compact and contiguous; avoid pairing incumbents; and planned population growth. Community forums were held Sept. 25 and 30 to help the public understand the process and the criteria to be used to draw the districts. Free public participation kits were made available on the website and at City Hall to provide the tools to the public to enable them to submit their own boundary proposal for discussion and consideration by citizens and the City Council. A total of 12 maps were submitted by the public from Oct. 1 through Nov. 14 and were posted on the City’s website to enable the public to view renderings from other citizens. In addition to renderings of the maps, demographic information also was posted. The maps were presented to Council on Dec. 2, 2014, and individuals submitting maps provided their input to Council. At that meeting, one of the maps submitted was requested to be withdrawn by its submitter. In addition, NDC provided three maps for discussion and Council consideration. Two additional outreach meetings were held Jan. 20 and 28 to allow the public the opportunity to view all maps, provide their input and submit their own maps through the end of February. The second series of outreach meetings focused on gathering public input on the draft plans developed in the earlier public engagement process. The City conducted an extensive public notification campaign for each round of public forums. The discussion at each was in-depth and provided useful input defining communities of interest in the city and comparing the relative merits of the plans. Be a part of the process to help determine the boundaries for City Council elections. Plan to attend the hearings in April and May. For more information, go to the City’s website at www.visalia.city. |