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Only 10 members of the public showed up for a July 10 workshop encouraging participation from residents in shaping new Morgan Hill City Council election districts, but the experienced demographer hired by the city to gather data and coordinate the process described that as a “good turnout.”
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Voters are still encouraged to submit their suggested maps dividing the city limits into four districts, each to be represented by and vote on only a single council seat every four years. Mapmakers are encouraged to submit their maps by July 17, so the first round of submissions can be presented at the July 26 council meeting. However, there will be more chances to present maps before the council settles on a final district map in late August or early September.
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Demographer Doug Johnson, President of National Demographics Corporation, demonstrated the three tools at the July 10 workshop that residents can use to draw and submit their suggested four-district maps to the council: on paper, with an Excel spreadsheet or an online software program available for free.
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NDC will also submit a number of proposed four-district maps for the council’s consideration.
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These tools and resources—including maps to print and the Excel template—are available on the website drawmh.org, which was created by NDC and the City of Morgan Hill at the end of June to guide the public through the districting process. The site, which is available in English and Spanish, also provides loads of data about Morgan Hill’s demographics, including charts and tables depicting the demographic makeup of each of the 52 “population units” within the city, and maps that show where different minority populations are concentrated throughout the city limits.
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The current council voted to make this change from the existing at-large system—in which every voter in the city can vote for every seat up for grabs in each election—on June 7 in response to a demand letter from an Oakland law firm claiming the old way is in violation of the California Voting Rights Act because it discourages representation of minority groups.
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It is up to the council to approve a single map depicting four council districts that will stand up to legal scrutiny, but council members have said they plan to use the maps submitted by the public to create the official map.
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Johnson offered a list of requirements and suggestions for the public in drawing their maps. First, any map to be considered for approval has to conform with three federal voting guidelines, Johnson said: each district must have an equal population, the district demographics must conform to the federal Voting Rights Act and there can be no gerrymandering.
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“You can’t divide a map in a way that separates a protected class (or minority neighborhoods),” Johnson said.
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In Morgan Hill, each district must consist of about 9,500 residents. That number is based on the 2010 U.S. Census. Johnson noted that district lines are subject to being redrawn after every Census, with the next one occurring in 2020 that will likely force significant changes to any map approved by the council this go-around.
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But there is also a list of “traditional” or preferred criteria in drawing election districts, Johnson explained. These include: keeping “communities of interest” or established neighborhoods undivided, making district boundary lines “compact and contiguous,” using visible landmarks—such as major streets and roads or creeks—as boundaries, considering voters’ desires to see incumbents’ names on the next ballot (not drawing two or more existing council members into a single district) and planned future growth of the city.
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Johnson, whose company has assisted more than 300 jurisdictions who have faced claims of CVRA noncompliance, added that most neighborhoods like to stay within a single district to consolidate their representation by a common elected official. But sometimes neighborhoods like to be split between two districts in order to potentially gain two voices looking out for them on the dais.
Public weighs in
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Morgan Hill resident Doug Muirhead has already proposed a four-district map and is working on another one. Residents can submit as many maps as they want, Johnson said.
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Muirhead said his first map, created with the online tool at drawmh.org, is population balanced, and it “ignores demographic characteristics and instead focuses on geographic representation for ‘South City’ by creating a new council district.”
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He added that since no current council member lives south of Dunne Avenue, his proposal would put the four existing incumbents into three districts.
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“That runs counter to the recommended requirement for ‘continuity in office’ (which I would call ‘incumbent protection’),” he said in an email. “I reject the claim that ‘elected at-large’ implies ‘representation’ of all of the city; ‘representation’ is not the same as ‘understanding.’”
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Johnson added that voters can make the map drawing process easier on themselves by submitting a map with only a single district proposal for the area where they live, or even just their own neighborhood. Doing so will give the council an idea what residents define as their neighborhood—often an unofficial or nebulous concept—or area of political interest.
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Former Morgan Hill Unified School District Trustee Bob Benevento asked Johnson at the July 10 workshop if the council is required to draw a district with a protected minority class as the majority of voters.
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Johnson, who also helped MHUSD draw its new districts after it was threatened with a CVRA lawsuit in 2015, said the city should draw such a district if possible in Morgan Hill.
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Morgan Hill resident Jody McRoberts was one of the few who attended the July 10 workshop. She said she might take up the offer to submit a map with a single district or neighborhood, but the task of proposing four complete districts that comply with the law and are fair to all residents seems daunting.
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“This is a difficult process for the city,” McRoberts said. “I appreciate the fact they’re including all of us in this process. It’s really tough but hopefully this will be helpful to the council to make a wise decision.”
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The city plans to continue to elect the mayor in citywide, at-large elections. However, the law firm that sent the initial demand letter—Goldstein, Borgen, Dardarian & Ho—argued in a June 19 letter to the Morgan Hill City Council that this would continue to be in violation of the CVRA.
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The city hired NDC on a $43,000 contract to provide demographic information and mapmaking expertise to transition to the by-district election system.
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The next council meeting where the by-district election process will be presented, along with any maps submitted by residents, will take place 7 p.m. July 26 at council meeting chambers, 17555 Peak Ave.
