Bakersfield releases draft maps ahead of redistricting hearing
Jan. 18—The city of Bakersfield has released the draft maps for new ward boundaries that must be drawn as a result of the redistricting process.
The maps resemble in almost every way the current ward boundaries. City spokesman Joe Conroy said in an email the consultant the city is working with has a practice of offering such "minimal change" maps to their clients.
"To date, we have not received any other draft maps from the public," he said in the email before referring to a tool at bakersfieldcity.us/819/Ward-Redistricting. "Again, the public is asked to submit comments and their own maps using the Community Mapping Tool."
The only changes present on the maps are a shift in the northwest corner of Ward 1, which now takes up a portion of Ward 2 and a shift slightly westward of the northwest corner of Ward 3 into Ward 4.
The wards maintain the demographic from the last 10 years. There are two wards — Ward 1 and Ward 7 — where more than 50 percent of the voting age population is Latino. In wards 2 and 6, voting age Latinos account for more than 40 percent of the population.
The public will have the chance to comment on the draft maps during a City Council meeting beginning at 5:15 p.m. Wednesday, at the Council Chambers located at 1501 Truxtun Ave.
The second of four planned public hearings will take place during the meeting. The city goes through the redistricting process every 10 years to account for new Census data. Both the county and state have already finalized new districts for county and statewide offices.
Other public hearings have been scheduled for Feb. 23 and March 16.
You can reach Sam Morgen at 661-395-7415. You may also follow him on Twitter @smorgenTBC.
