TITLE
Recommendation to receive and file the report on the 2006 Population Balance Among the Nine Councilmanic Districts in the City of Long Beach. (Citywide)
DISCUSSION
Section 103 of the Long Beach City Charter reads in part:
Commencing the second quarter of 1981 and at intervals offive (5) years, or at any other time the City Council may direct, the Planning Commission shall ascertain the number of inhabitants in each Councilmanic District and report its finding to the City Council. If the report shows that the Councilmanic Districts are not approximately equal in number of inhabitants, the City Council shall, by ordinance, redistrict the City into nine (9) Councilmanic Districts, each having approximately an equal number of inhabitants.
The Department of Planning and Building coordinates the preparation and processing of data to be used in the population estimates. To assist in this effort, a Redistricting Technical Advisory Committee composed of staff representatives from the offices of the Mayor, the City Manager, the City Clerk, the City Attorney and the Technology Services Department was established.
For a mid-decade Councilmanic District population review, such as for 2006, recent detailed U.S. Census Bureau data is not available and the data utilized instead is obtained from the County of Los Angeles Urban Research Unit. Comprehensive Planning staff began the process of estimating Council District populations in 2006, but due to the initial L.A. County estimates being unreliable and a proposed City Charter amendment that would have eliminated mid-decade redistricting, the necessary population estimates were not available until August 2007. The following estimates of population by Councilmanic District have been prepared based on the most recently available County of Los Angeles estimates by Census Tract, which reflect Long Beach's population on July 1, 2006. While the estimates from the County represent the best available data, staff does not consider them as accurate and dependable as data from the 2010 U.S.
Census, which won't be available until 2011.
The determination of whether Councilmanic redistricting is necessary has, in the past, been linked to whether Councilmanic District populations have more than a plus or minus five percent deviation from the "target population". For this purpose, the target population of a Councilmanic District is calculated by dividing the citywide population by nine. Using the 2006 estimates, the target population per Councilmanic District is therefore 54,545 inhabitants.
As shown in the table below, there are three Councilmanic Districts that fall outside of this +/- 5% range, the 3rd, the 5th and the 9th. However, given the County population estimates are disputable, and the 5% variable is a guideline, the Council may consider accepting the variations and reevaluating once the 2010 Census information is available.
The next City of Long Beach municipal elections will be held in 2008. The deadline to submit new Councilmanic District boundaries to the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder is November 2, 2007, in order for the new boundaries to be in place for the 2008 elections. This deadline does not leave sufficient time to complete a redistricting process prior to the 2008 election cycle.
Redistricting could still occur after the 2008 municipal elections are completed and be in place in time for the next municipal elections in 2010. However, in 2011 U.S. Census Bureau population data will be available from the 2010 Census, and, per the City Charter, population balance among the Councilmanic Districts will need to be reviewed again, with the potential for further redistricting.
Accordingly, staff is recommending that the Council forego conducting the mid-decade redistricting process, and commence redistricting in 2011, when more reliable data is available from the 2010 Census.
This report was reviewed by Assistant City Attorney Heather Mahood and Budget and Performance Management Bureau Manager David Wodynksi on September 7, 2007. The Planning Commission reviewed the population estimates at their meeting of September 6, 2007 and voted unanimously to transmit them to the City Council.
TIMING CONSIDERATIONS
The City Charter states that the Planning Commission shall report population data to the City Council at five-year intervals. This estimate of population is time sensitive in relation to the City Council's decision on whether or not to redistrict.
FISCAL IMPACT
None.
SUGGESTED ACTION
Approve recommendation.
Respectfully Submitted,
SUZANNE FRICK
DIRECTOR OF PLANNING AND BUILDING
|
NAME |
APPROVED: |
|
TITLE |
|
|
|
|
|
|
ANTHONY W. BATTS |
|
|
CITY MANAGER |