TITLE
Recommendation to adopt criteria for the upcoming redistricting process as recommended by the City Manager, or adopt alternative criteria as deemed appropriate by the City Council. (Citywide)
DISCUSSION
At the City Council Study Session on February 15, 2011, the City Council received a presentation regarding the upcoming redistricting process. A component of this presentation was the City Manager’s recommendation for the criteria that should be used in the redistricting process. Although the feedback regarding the criteria provided by the City Council at the Study Session was favorable, staff recommends the City Council formally adopt the criteria.
The recommended criteria for the redistricting process are provided below. (The criteria have been numbered for identification purposes only.)
1. Transparency and public information should be of the highest priority;
2. Staff will receive input from many sources, but formal direction will come from the City Council in open session;
3. Direction to staff on adjustments shall occur in public session of the City Council;
4. Requested information will be shared publicly with all members of the City Council and the community;
5. Staff will provide the City Council with several options, and request direction until consensus is reached;
6. Deviations from mean population should be as small as possible, but not greater than +/- 5%;
7. Splits in neighborhoods, ethnic communities and other groups having a clear identity should be avoided;
8. Districts should be as compact as possible, avoiding gerrymandering;
9. Residences of Councilpersons should remain within their respective districts;
10. Boundaries should, wherever practicable, follow major roads and other readily identifiable features;
11. Preservation of communities of interest, where possible;
12. Boundary adjustments should generally consist of easily identifiable blocks/ areas;
13. Use Census tract boundaries wherever pos...
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