Drawing Five Districts

Map of El Cerrito on https://www.udrawthelines.com/

The City Council moved forward Tuesday (May 19) with an expedited process to draw five voting districts in El Cerrito that will replace at-large voting for all council candidates. The quick action is due to the threat of a lawsuit.

The change is not expected to take effect until 2028. When it happens, each council member will have to live in the district where residents elect him or her.

View Maps or Draw Your Own

Residents who want to have input will need to act quickly. They can draw their own maps online using: https://www.udrawthelines.com. Maps are drawn using census blocks.

June 3 Workshop at City Hall

They can attend a community workshop at 6 p.m. June 3 at City Hall.

Is Your Group a “Community of Interest”?

They can submit an online “community of interest” form if they are members of a group that should be taken into consideration as districts are drawn.

As of May 21, the “udraw” site invited El Cerrito residents to draw either four or five council districts. That will be updated because of the council direction given Tuesday, according to Will Provost, assistant to the city manager. Meanwhile, residents can choose the five district option.

First Maps to be Presented on June 9

Public input will have the most impact if submitted before the next public hearing on June 9, when the first maps will be presented. Redistricting Partners will also draw three maps for that meeting. Other public hearings will follow on June 16 and July 7. Final adoption of an ordinance is scheduled for July 21.

Expected to Take Effect in 2028

City Attorney Sky Woodruff said that, due to filing deadlines set by the Contra Costa Elections Office for the November 2026 election, district voting will not start until 2028.

However, the districting process is being expedited due to the threat of a lawsuit against the city for “statistically significant racially polarized voting” in El Cerrito.

Why It’s Happening

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

Rexroad represents a voter in El Cerrito who has not been identified.

Rexroad wrote to the city, “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.”

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’ Requirements

To avoid this, the city can use a safe harbor provision under state law to limit the amount of attorney fees it could owe, 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.

The city hired Redistricting Partners to manage the transition. Paul Mitchell, the company’s owner, said it will avoid partisan, racial, or incumbent gerrymandering (drawing districts to give undue advantage).

The Major Decision

The major decision on May 19 was to provide direction on whether to draw five City Council districts or four council districts with a mayor who would be elected at-large by the entire city.

An “Unscientific” City Poll

One source of input on the issue was an “unscientific” poll presented by the city’s Will Provost.

The poll was conducted April 30 through May 5 “using Polco digital engagement tools and sent out using City email database, Polco’s contact list, and in digital City outreach channels,” according to Provost. It got 602 responses.

Asked about their preferences on structure of the El Cerrito City Council, the responses were:

• 5 Districts: 147 responses or 25%

• 4 Districts and Directly Elected Mayor: 359 responses or 60%

• No Preference/Need More Information: 88 responses or 15%

  
  

Public Comment

Five residents spoke during public comment on May 19.

Sue Duncan said she would like to see five districts and have the city continue its practice of a “rotating” mayor who is elected by the City Council and serves for one year. A concern is that the city could get stuck with a “bad” mayor, she said. In contrast, the current process gives every district’s representative a chance to serve as mayor. When a person serves as mayor, Duncan said, “that person is more engaged with the council business after the term ends and has a better, deeper understanding of the workings of the city.”

Michael McDougall said he favored four districts and an at-large mayor because it might be difficult to find five qualified people to represent each smaller district. The upside could be that “we get a great mayor and they get better and better,” McDougall said. This type of mayor would have a bigger job and should be paid “more than the amount you get now,” McDougall said.

Barbara Chan said she prefers five districts because each council member has equal importance and it prevents the concentration of power in one person. Creating an at-large mayoral election could lead to people who run for mayor spending more money just to get elected.

“Sitting on City Council is still a public service and should not be seen as a jumping point for money and power,” Chan said.

Megan Steffen said that, given concerns about the City Council “talent pool” and about locking in a mayor, perhaps there could be four members elected by district and a fifth member elected by the whole city.

In subsequent discussion, council member Rebecca Saltzman said she also had suggested that approach.

City Attorney Woodruff said it was ruled out because the state safe harbor law only allows for five council districts or four plus an at-large mayor.

Ira Sharenow said he supports five council districts due to concern about a poor mayor and because four districts plus a mayor might lessen people’s interest in running for the council.

Unanimous Council Support for Five Districts

Mayor Gabe Quinto said the switch to district elections should not be necessary, but it must happen because of the threatened lawsuit.

“It’s a big scam,” Quinto said.

However, he said, five equal districts could be drawn from east to west. Considerations include renters and homeowners near San Pablo Avenue and the locations of public and private schools, he said.

Council member Rebecca Saltzman supported five districts, saying that the elementary school district boundaries within the city should be considered when mapping the future City Council districts.

Council member Lisa Motoyama supported the five-district option, saying she did not think the idea of an at-large mayor would work well in El Cerrito.

“You could have one person doing a lot and four people who are not,” Motoyama said. She added later, “I agree with Barbara Chan. We don’t have a budget that is going to be good enough for a salaried mayor…That is not what we do here.”

Quinto said that this year, because he is president of the League of California Cities and belongs to other regional boards while being mayor, “I actually lose money doing what I am doing.”

The mayor receives the same stipend as other council members, which was raised from $441 per month to $650 per month in 2023. City Clerk Holly Charlety confirmed the $650 amount.

“We should be making $1,100,” Quinto said. He added the despite the cost: “I encourage people to run…It’s very fulfilling…This is to give back to the city that I grew up in.”

Saltzman said at a previous meeting that a directly elected mayor would need to be paid more because the job would require a lot more time.

Council member Carolyn Wysinger echoed that sentiment Tuesday. “Sometimes people want to go with the will of what the survey said,” Wysinger said, referring to the city's survey. She said she could support either four or five districts.

However, she said a switch to four members and a directly elected mayor would require better compensation “for a mayor who is essentially going to be just a figurehead and an agenda setter.”

Wysinger added: “Just because we would go to a directly elected mayor does not mean we would have a strong mayor.”

Council member William Ktsanes said having five smaller districts could make it easier for people to run for the council because candidates would not need to take their campaign to all city residents.

“When I ran I did a tremendous amount of walking through the city,” Ktsanes said. “Reaching out to 5,000 residents might be easier and less costly than reaching out to 25,000 people.”

City’s Web Page

More information is available here.