Visalia City Council

Visalia City Council Visalia City Council 707 W. Acequia Visalia, CA 93291 Visalia City Council Meeting Minutes - Final Monday, January 10, 2022 7:30 PM City Council Chambers City Council Special Meeting - Redistricting Public Hearing No. 4 ROLL CALL Present: Mayor Steve Nelsen, Vice Mayor Brian Poochigian, Council Member Greg Collins, Council Member Brett Taylor, and Council Member Liz Wynn CALL TO ORDER SPECIAL SESSION - 7:30 PM The meeting was called to order at 7:30 p.m. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE INVOCATION ITEMS OF INTEREST PUBLIC COMMENTS Citizens are invited to comment on issues within the jurisdiction of the Visalia City Council. The Council asks that you keep your comments concise and positive. Creative criticism, presented with appropriate courtesy, is welcome. Each speaker will be allowed three minutes and a timer will notify you when your time is expired. Please begin your comments by stating and spelling your name and providing your city of residence. PUBLIC HEARING Comments related to regular Items and Public Hearing Items are limited to three minutes per speaker, for a maximum of 30 minutes per item. The Mayor may reasonably limit or extend the public comment period to preserve the Council's interest in conducting efficient, orderly meetings. Page 1 of 2 Visalia City Council Meeting Minutes - Final January 10, 2022 1. Public Hearing No. 4 and City Council District Decennial 22-0007 Redistricting Presentation and Map Review The City of Visalia’s City Council District Decennial Redistricting continues, as the City must adopt boundaries for five Council districts that are generally equal in population based on new census data from the 2020 Census, and that comply with State and Federal election laws, including whether there is a legal requirement for one or more majority-minority district. The public hearing was opened at 7:32 p.m. Ken Chawkins, NDC Consultant, provided a brief overview of what the City of Visalia has done thus far for the redistricting process. Mr. Chawkins explained the processing of map submissions. All maps must be population balanced to be considered and all maps must have the population deviation clear, compact, and contiguous. Map 102 is not population balanced; however, the reason NDC is showing this map is in the event Council likes Map 102. Map 103 is the lowest deviation and as long as it is under 10% deviation it complies with the law. If the Council favors two maps they can be consolidated. Luis Sepulveda, Visalia, spoke to Council regarding the redistricting process. The development of the maps for consideration goes to how to create the maps and maintain the communities of interest. More importantly, the maps submitted by the Coalition reflect the Hispanic California Voter Act Party. Lori B. Pesante, Dolores Huerta Foundation, appreciates the demographic data sheets. The map now makes sense based on the census data in 2010. Now, the Council needs to set the criteria. Map 106 meets the rubric to filter through the fair map acts. Council Member Collins requested confirmation that the maps can be adjusted for the CVAP as some of the maps seemed convoluted and not as compact as others. Council Member Wynn prefers the style of Map 106. Council Member Taylor appreciates the citizens who took the time to submit a map. Vice Mayor Poochigian stated he likes the way staff has displayed the materials and prefers map 102, but it is not in line with the metrics. Mayor Nelsen thanked the members of the community and stated he prefers not to divide the city by North and South but to have a vertical approach. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 8:11 p.m. Page 2 of 2