City Council Districts?

El Cerrito City Council chamber

Editor's Note: The colorful map of street sweeping areas on our opening page was used to show one way the city has been divided into smaller districts. No draft maps have been drawn yet of City Council election districts.

Faced with the threat of a lawsuit, City Attorney Sky Woodruff recommends that the city voluntarily switch from the current citywide elections for all five City Council members to a system with smaller districts that each elect a council member.

Creating Maps of City Council Districts

This would require drawing maps of the proposed district boundaries. Before drawing a draft map, the city must hold at least two public hearings over a period of more than 30 days at which the public can provide input on the composition of the districts, according to a report from Woodruff and City Clerk Holly Charlety that is posted in the city’s portal.

Advised to Act Quickly

The first public hearing will be Tuesday, May 5, if Woodruff’s recommendation is followed. The council meeting agenda for Tuesday, April 21, states that a closed session regarding litigation will be held. It does not state whether the legal issue is the city’s election process.

To limit its liability under state elections law, the staff report says, the city must act quickly to pass an ordinance committing to district elections.

Actual Change May Be Delayed Until 2028

However, the staff report also states that the switch to district elections could not be made until November of 2028. It estimates the cost of the transition at $250,000.

Why It’s Happening

On March 17, the city received a letter from Attorney Matthew Rexroad entitled “Notice of Violation of California Voting Rights Act per California Elections Code 10010(e).”

“I represent a prospective plaintiff in a potential lawsuit under the California Voting Rights Act (CVRA),” Rexroad wrote. “As noted by the U.S. Supreme Court…at-large voting schemes may operate to minimize or cancel out the voting strength of minorities…While the federal Voting Rights Act targets such schemes for enhanced scrutiny, California has enacted even stronger protections for minority voting rights.”

“A violation is established if it is shown that racially polarized voting occurs.” Rexroad wrote.

Demographer Analyzed El Cerrito

Rexroad wrote that an expert demographer, Fabian Valdez, analyzed election results from 2018 to 2024 and found that “statistically significant polarized voting exists in El Cerrito.”

Potential District With 39% Asian Citizens of Voting Age

“Our team conducted a geographic simulation of proposed boundaries,” Rexroad wrote. “We have identified that a compact influence district containing approximately 39 percent Asian citizen(s) of voting age can be drawn within El Cerrito.”

Rexroad continued: “Fortunately, California Elections Code sets forth procedures by which your council may voluntarily move to a district-based election system and thus bring the city into compliance with the law.”

City Attorney Denies Racially Polarized Voting

In his report, City Attorney Woodruff said he hired a statistician to perform a Racially Polarized Voting (RPV) analysis. He said the city does not concede that racially polarized voting is present in El Cerrito elections.

Risk of Large Legal Settlements

However, Woodruff said many public agencies have been sued and forced to pay large sums to settle this type of lawsuit.

‘Safe Harbor’ Requires Commitment to District Elections

To avoid this, the city can use a safe harbor provision under state law to limit the amount of its liability, Woodruff said. To gain the protection, “the city must act within 45 days of receiving a letter alleging a violation of the California Voting Rights Act, declaring the intent to transition from an at-large to a district-based election system.”

The safe harbor provision also requires that the council pass an ordinance within 90 days changing to district-based council elections, setting a transition sequence, and adopting district maps, according to Woodruff.

The law allows for extensions of the deadlines with plaintiff agreement, but “the city was not able to get plaintiff agreement,” Woodruff wrote.

Transition Cost Estimated at $250,000

To provide tools for community input and drawing maps based on community and City Council feedback, Woodruff recommended that the city work with his law firm, Redwood Public Law, and a demographer he will hire.