Supervisors to move forward with new district boundaries on Tuesday
Dec. 6—The Kern County Board of Supervisors is set to formalize new district boundaries Tuesday, nearly concluding a divisive and sometimes emotional process.
Every 10 years, legislative bodies must have their borders redrawn to account for new census data. The process takes place at every level of government, from local school districts to the House of Representatives.
In California, the Citizens Redistricting Commission, an independent body of Republicans, Democrats and independents, oversees redistricting for seats in Congress, state Assembly, state Senate and state Board of Equalization. At the county level, supervisors determine their own district boundaries.
The board has held meetings since September to receive public input on the new map that will shape Kern County politics for the next 10 years. Over time, their choice was whittled down to two options. They could either stick with districts that largely retain the current boundaries, or they could choose a new map that saw eastern Kern County represented by one supervisor instead of two, with three Bakersfield-centric districts instead of two.
The latter map was drawn by the Equity Maps Coalition, a group of advocates organized by the Dolores Huerta Foundation. The coalition sought to create three districts with Latino majorities, where the county now has two. Still, Latino citizens of voting age would only have a majority in two of the coalition's three Latino-majority districts and the map would also reduce the number of Latinos in District 4.
The District 4 reduction, which would have dropped voting eligible Latinos from 65 percent to 58.8 percent, caused worry among some that the Latinos in that district would no longer be able to effectively vote as a group given low voter-turnout rates in that population.
In the end supervisors voted 4-1, with Supervisor Leticia Perez dissenting, to approve a map that kept district boundaries largely the same. That map is being brought before the board Tuesday in the form of an ordinance amendment. If supervisors approve the amendment on Tuesday, it will return the next week for formal adoption.
In a last-ditch effort to stop the board's approval, the Dolores Huerta Foundation organized a press conference Friday to protest the county's choice. Consisting of community advocates from across the county, the groups banded together to demand supervisors adopt a map they claimed would better represent the will of local residents.
"We fear that the creation of these districts will completely disenfranchise our Latino populations and other communities of color for the next 10 years," Vivian Anfoso, a home-care provider and member of United Domestic Workers, said during the press conference. "UDW, in solidarity with our partners here today, demand that the counties in our region adhere to the redistricting process and adopt equitable maps, which are supported by the community-member input."
But making any changes to the approved map at this point would be difficult. Supervisors must adopt an ordinance legalizing the new boundaries by Dec. 15. If they fail to do so, the county must petition the court to set the boundaries.
You can reach Sam Morgen at 661-395-7415. You may also follow him on Twitter @smorgenTBC.
