BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                  SB 1331
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          Date of Hearing:   June 19, 2012

                  ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON ELECTIONS AND REDISTRICTING
                                  Paul Fong, Chair
                 SB 1331 (Kehoe) - As Introduced:  February 23, 2012

          SENATE VOTE  :   32-3
           
          SUBJECT  :   County of San Diego Independent Redistricting 
          Commission.

           SUMMARY  :   Establishes a redistricting commission in San Diego 
          County and charges it with adjusting the boundaries of 
          supervisorial districts after each decennial federal census.  
          Specifically,  this bill  :   

          1)Provides for the creation of a redistricting commission in San 
            Diego County.  Requires the commission to be comprised of five 
            members and two alternates who meet the following 
            qualifications:

             a)   Be a resident of San Diego County;

             b)   Be a registered voter in San Diego County;

             c)   Be a former or retired state or federal judge; and,

             d)   Not be a current member of the county board of 
               supervisors.

          2)Permits any person who meets the qualifications to serve on 
            the commission to submit his or her name to the clerk of the 
            board of supervisors of San Diego County to be included in a 
            random drawing to select the members and alternates to the 
            commission.  Requires the clerk to conduct a random drawing at 
            a regularly scheduled meeting of the board of supervisors to 
            select the members and alternates of the commission.

          3)Permits the presiding judge of the San Diego County Superior 
            Court to assist the clerk of the board of supervisors in San 
            Diego County in identifying former or retired judges that may 
            be qualified to be included in the drawing.

          4)Requires the redistricting commission to adjust the 
            supervisorial district boundaries after each decennial federal 







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            census.  Requires that the boundaries be adjusted so that the 
            districts are equal or nearly equal in population.  Requires 
            the resulting supervisorial districts to comply with any 
            applicable provisions of Section 2 of the federal Voting 
            Rights Act (VRA), as amended.  

          5)Permits the redistricting commission to consider all of the 
            following factors when establishing the boundaries of 
            supervisorial districts:

             a)   Topography;

             b)   Geography;

             c)   Cohesiveness, contiguity, integrity, and compactness of 
               territory; and,

             d)   Communities of interests in each district.

          6)Requires the redistricting commission to use federal census 
            tracts and blocks in establishing the boundaries of 
            supervisorial districts.

          7)Requires the board of supervisors of San Diego County to 
            provide for reasonable staffing and logistical support for the 
            commission.

          8)Makes the redistricting commission subject to the Ralph M. 
            Brown Act (the state's open meetings law) and requires the 
            commission to conduct at least seven public hearings with at 
            least one public hearing held in each supervisorial district.

          9)Requires the redistricting commission to adopt a redistricting 
            plan adjusting the boundaries of supervisorial districts and 
            to file the plan with the clerk of the board of supervisors 
            prior to the first day of October of the year following the 
            year in which each decennial federal census is taken.  
            Provides that the plan is effective 30 days after it is filed 
            with the clerk.  Provides that the plan is subject to 
            referendum in the same manner as ordinances.

           EXISTING LAW  :

          1)Requires the board of supervisors of each county, following 
            each decennial federal census, and using that census as a 







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            basis, to adjust the boundaries of any or all of the 
            supervisorial districts of the county so that the districts 
            are as nearly equal in populations as may be and comply with 
            the applicable provisions of Section 2 of the VRA, as amended. 
             

          2)Permits a board of supervisors, when adjusting the boundaries 
            of supervisorial districts, to give consideration to the 
            following factors:

             a)   Topography;

             b)   Geography;

             c)   Cohesiveness, contiguity, integrity, and compactness of 
               territory; and,

             d)   Communities of interests in the districts.

          3)Requires a board of supervisors to hold at least one public 
            hearing on any proposal to adjust the boundaries of a 
            supervisorial district prior to the public hearing at which 
            the board votes to approve or defeat the proposal.

          4)Establishes a procedure for a government of a county to adopt 
            a charter by a majority vote of its electors voting on the 
            question.  Generally provides greater autonomy over county 
            affairs to counties that have adopted charters.  

          5)Provides that counties that have adopted charters are subject 
            to statutes that relate to apportioning population of 
            governing body districts.

           FISCAL EFFECT  :   According to the Senate Appropriations 
          Committee, pursuant to Senate Rule 28.8, negligible state costs. 
           State-mandated local program; contains a local request 
          disclaimer.

           COMMENTS  :   

           1)Purpose of the Bill  :  According to the author:

               SB 1331 promotes a specific redistricting reform 
               solution supported by elected officials, Latino voter 
               advocacy groups, and others from San Diego County.  







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               The San Diego County Board of Supervisors (the County 
               Board) voted on January 24, 2012 to seek changes in 
               state law necessary to create an independent 
               redistricting commission comprised of retired judges.  
               SB 1331 creates the independent commission and shifts 
               the authority for redistricting San Diego County's 
               supervisorial districts from the County Board to the 
               independent commission.  Changes to the San Diego 
               County charter would conform the Charter to state law, 
               facilitating implementation and operation of the 
               independent commission.

               Because the Elections Code controls and limits the 
               redistricting process, the County Board cannot 
               reformulate its redistricting process unless the 
               Legislature changes the Elections Code to provide for 
               an independent redistricting commission in San Diego 
               County.  Moreover, because San Diego County voters 
               must approve of any charter changes, the state should 
               initiate action on this matter so that voters will 
               know all the relevant statutory changes that will 
               influence conforming amendments to the county charter.

           2)California Counties Must Follow State Law Governing 
            Redistricting  :  A number of California cities (including the 
            City of San Diego, as discussed below) have established 
            redistricting commissions to adjust city council districts 
            following each decennial census.  In some cities, these 
            commissions are advisory, and only make recommendations to the 
            city council, but in other cities, the redistricting 
            commission has the authority to adopt a redistricting plan 
            independent of the city council.  Charter cities are able to 
            establish such commissions because the state Constitution 
            gives charter cities broad authority over the conduct of city 
            elections and over the manner in which, method by which, times 
            at which, and terms for which municipal officers are elected.

          Charter counties, on the other hand, are not granted the same 
            level of authority over the conduct of county elections, and 
            in fact, the state Constitution explicitly provides that 
            "Ýc]harter counties are subject to statutes that relate to 
            apportioning population of governing body districts." In light 
            of this provision of the state Constitution, charter counties 
            are unable to provide for the creation of a redistricting 
            commission through an amendment to the county charter unless 







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            statutory authority is provided to allow a county to have such 
            a commission. 

           3)Should State Law Dictate the Structure of a San Diego County 
            Redistricting Commission  ?  As noted above, existing law does 
            not permit San Diego County to establish a redistricting 
            commission without statutory authorization, and in light of 
            that fact, the San Diego County Board of Supervisors has 
            sponsored this bill requesting authorization for the county to 
            create such a commission.  This bill goes beyond simply 
            providing such authorization to San Diego County, however, as 
            it imposes a number of conditions on the formation and 
            composition of any commission that the county establishes.  
            Among other conditions, this bill provides that only former or 
            retired state or federal judges are eligible to serve on any 
            commission that the county establishes, and it provides that 
            the members of the commission must be selected at random from 
            all applicants who meet the qualifications to serve on the 
            commission.

          Because the San Diego County Charter currently provides for 
            redistricting to be conducted by the Board of Supervisors, the 
            voters of San Diego County would need to approve a charter 
            amendment before the redistricting commission envisioned by 
            this bill could be created.  However, this bill would present 
            the voters of San Diego County with an all-or-nothing 
            decision-either voters would have to approve a redistricting 
            commission that complies with the requirements governing the 
            formation and composition of that commission that are outlined 
            in this bill, or the voters could vote down the proposal to 
            create the commission, and have redistricting remain within 
            the purview of the board of supervisors.

          Additionally, because of the conditions that this bill creates 
            for any San Diego County redistricting commission, subsequent 
            legislation would be required for any change that the voters 
            of San Diego County wished to make to the structure of the 
            redistricting commission.

          In light of these facts, the committee may wish to consider 
            giving San Diego County the authority to establish a 
            redistricting commission through the approval of a charter 
            amendment, but to leave the details of how that commission 
            would be formed to the charter amendment itself.








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           4)California Citizens Redistricting Commission  :  Proposition 11, 
            which was approved by the voters at the 2008 statewide general 
            election, created the Citizens Redistricting Commission (CRC), 
            and gave it the responsibility for establishing district lines 
            for Assembly, Senate, and Board of Equalization.  Proposition 
            11 also modified the criteria to be used when drawing district 
            lines.  Proposition 20, which was approved by the voters at 
            the 2010 statewide general election, gave the CRC the 
            responsibility for establishing lines for California's 
            congressional districts, and made other changes to the 
            procedures and criteria to be used by the CRC.  The CRC 
            consists of 14 registered voters, including five Democrats, 
            five Republicans, and four others, all of whom are chosen 
            according to procedures specified in Proposition 11.

           5)San Diego City Redistricting Commission  :  The council 
            districts for the City of San Diego are already adjusted by a 
            commission rather than the city council.  Pursuant to the San 
            Diego City Charter, the San Diego Redistricting Commission is 
            composed of seven members appointed by the Presiding Judge of 
            the Municipal Court, San Diego Judicial District.  The 
            Presiding Judge must appoint women and men who will give the 
            Redistricting Commission geographic, social and ethnic 
            diversity, and who have a high degree of competency to carry 
            out the responsibilities of the Commission.  The appointees 
            must include individuals with a demonstrated capacity to serve 
            with impartiality in a nonpartisan role and must be registered 
            to vote in the City of San Diego. Persons who accept 
            appointment to the Commission, at the time of their 
            appointment, must file a written declaration with the City 
            Clerk stating that within five years of the Commission's 
            adoption of a final redistricting plan, they will not seek 
            election to a San Diego City public office.  The districts 
            must be contiguous and as equal in population and as 
            geographically compact as possible.  The districts must also, 
            as far as possible, be bounded by natural boundaries, by 
            street lines and/or by city boundary lines.

           6)Communities of Interest  :  Although not defined by this bill, 
            the California Constitution, for the purposes of the CRC, 
            defines "community of interest" as a contiguous population 
            which shares common social and economic interests that should 
            be included within a single district for purposes of its 
            effective and fair representation. Examples of such shared 
            interests are those common to an urban area, a rural area, an 







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            industrial area, or an agricultural area, and those common to 
            areas in which the people share similar living standards, use 
            the same transportation facilities, have similar work 
            opportunities, or have access to the same media of 
            communication relevant to the election process. Communities of 
            interest shall not include relationships with political 
            parties, incumbents, or political candidates.

           REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION  :

           Support 
           
          San Diego County (sponsor)
          California State Association of Counties
          Latino American Political Association of San Diego
          Urban Counties Caucus
           
            Opposition 
           
          None on file.

           Analysis Prepared by  :    Ethan Jones / E. & R. / (916) 319-2094