SLO County is redrawing its Board of Supervisors districts — and big changes may be coming
San Luis Obispo County supervisors will start considering new election maps this week — and one plan would bring big changes to the North Coast and the North County, in particular.
Every 10 years, the county goes through the process of “redistricting” — or redrawing the the boundaries around the five districts the county supervisors represent — to account for new Census population data.
Redistricting can have significant political implications, as shifting representation areas can determine whether conservative or liberal supervisor candidates will have more success, based on which communities wind up in different districts.
The Board of Supervisors will meet on Tuesday evening to provide feedback on four draft district maps and hear public feedback.
The meeting will be the first where supervisors will comment on the new maps, which the county recently made public.
What changes do the draft maps make?
The four plans supervisors will consider hinge primarily on the city of San Luis Obispo, the county’s biggest population center. Districts 2, 3 and 5 currently have different pieces of the the city.
Comment letters have also focused on Oceano, which is currently in District 4. Some residents say Oceano should join Grover Beach in District 3. Other residents emphasize the importance of keeping the community in District 4. None of the four draft maps moves Oceano out of District 4.
Zoomable versions of the maps are available on the county’s website.
Plan A, fewest changes: The Plan A map maintains the status quo and keeps the current supervisor districts, “with minor adjustments to account for updated Census block boundaries,” the county staff report said.
Plan B, change for Cal Poly: Plan B “works from existing supervisor districts” and moves all of the Cal Poly campus into District 2 “in response to public comment,” the staff report said. Previously, part of the Cal Poly campus was in District 5.
Plan C, major changes to North Coast and North County: Plan C makes the biggest changes of any maps the supervisors will consider. It completely removes San Luis Obispo and Cal Poly from District 5 “in response to public comment on communities of interest.” That adjustment sets off significant changes to Districts 1 and 2.
It expands District 5 into District 1, which, in turn, expands District 1 into District 2. This means Cambria and a chunk of the North Coast would become part of a district that’s primarily in the North County. And Templeton would move from District 1 to District 5.
Plan D, match with school districts: Plan D would align the supervisor district boundaries with proposed school district boundaries. However, the changes in the Plan D map are not as significant as those presented in Plan C.
How is SLO County doing redistricting?
The 2021 redistricting process began in January, when the Board of Supervisors voted 4-1 to turn the redrawing process over to a county staff advisory committee made up of employees from the administrative office, the Planning and Building Department, the County Counsel’s Office, the Public Works Department, Information Technology and the county Clerk-Recorder’s Office.
The county used a similar committee to conduct redistricting in 2001 and 2011, a county staff report said.
The COVID-19 pandemic has complicated the 2021 redistricting process, as it delayed the final release of the Census data the county needs to determine how to change its districts. This means the county has a redistricting timeline that’s more compressed than normal.
In January, some supervisors who voted for the staff advisory committee approach cited county employees’ knowledge of redistricting and the shorter time frame that would come with an in-house process as their reasons for picking that process.
However, Supervisor Bruce Gibson, who cast the only dissenting vote, disagreed with the other board members and encouraged a citizen advisory committee that would maximize public participation.
The Board of Supervisors held its first redistricting hearing in July, but the county didn’t receive the Census data required to draw the draft maps until Sept. 20.
What are the criteria for creating different districts?
The county has several criteria it must follow when drawing its supervisor district boundaries, according to a presentation from Redistricting Partners, a county consultant.
The five districts must be of approximately equal population size. They must remain contiguous, meaning one district’s boundaries can’t hop or jump over those of another district.
The county must maintain “communities of interest,” or those that share common interests and characteristics, within districts. Those drawing maps should follow city and Census boundaries, and they must keep districts compact.
The county must ensure there’s not a total population deviation of more than 10% among all the districts. The new 2020 Census data — which took new population growth and loss into account — shows there’s now a total deviation of 9.3% among the county’s districts.
This means the county isn’t legally required to make significant changes to its supervisor districts to accommodate population shifts that occurred during the past 10 years.
How to watch the Board of Supervisors meeting
The Board of Supervisors will consider the draft maps at a meeting on Tuesday at 6 p.m. To stream the meeting online in English, visit slo-span.org. To stream the meeting in Spanish, visit https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85259575037.
For more information, visit the county’s page on redistricting or go to bit.ly/2ZroWt3.
This story was originally published October 25, 2021 at 4:11 PM.
