East Ventura News

County of Ventura issued the following announcement on August 17.

POST-CENSUS REDISTRICTING PROCESS UNDERWAY IN VENTURA COUNTY

Ventura, CA – The County of Ventura’s Board of Supervisors has announced a series of upcoming public meetings on the County’s redistricting process, which is underway in every county in California and involves the redrawing of district lines to balance the population in each of the County’s five supervisorial districts. The process occurs every 10 years with the release of new U.S. Census data to ensure that each Board member represents about the same number of constituents.

Redistricting is important to County residents because it determines which neighborhoods and communities are grouped together into a district for purposes of electing board members. County residents are invited to share comments and even suggest maps for redrawing the lines through a series of public meetings and outreach opportunities.

In the coming weeks, the Board of Supervisors will host virtual community meetings for County residents to receive their input on where district lines should be drawn. The virtual meetings will be offered in Spanish and English.

The meetings are scheduled for the following dates:

• August 31: 6:00pm-8:00pm
• September 2: 6:00pm-8:00pm
• September 9: 6:00pm-8:00pm
• September 11: 10:00am-12:00pm
• September 13: 6:00pm-8:00pm

Community members can also visit Ventura County Libraries, Oxnard Libraries and the Blanchard Community Library beginning September 1 to provide input utilizing library computers or submit their hard copy materials at the library.

Through November, the Board of Supervisors will host public hearings to receive input from the community regarding where district lines should be drawn.

• September 21 – Pre-Draft Map Public Hearing
• October 19 – Public Hearing Post Draft Maps
• November 9 – Public Hearing Post Draft Maps
• November 16 – Public Hearing Post Draft Maps

As County residents consider their feedback to the Board of Supervisors, there are six criteria established by state law for how the district lines are redrawn:

1. Districts must be kept together, sharing a common border with other districts.
2. Local neighborhoods and communities should be kept together, and not split.
3. Cities should be kept together where possible, with minimal division.
4. Boundaries that separate districts should be easily identifiable (i.e., rivers, streets, highways).
5. Districts should be compact, not stretched to include specific neighborhoods or communities.
6. Boundaries cannot be drawn to favor or discriminate against a political party.

The County of Ventura encourages the public to get involved in the redistricting process, review the redrawing criteria, and join us for one of the community meetings.

Comments about redistricting and supervisorial boundary lines can be submitted by U.S. mail to Redistricting, 800 S. Victoria Avenue, Ventura, CA, 93009-1940. Residents can also schedule an in-person appointment calling 805.654.2998.

For more information about the County’s redistricting process and how you can participate, visit ventura.org/redistricting or email redistricting@ventura.org.

Original source can be found here.