S.R. City Council Agenda, Oct 10th

Greetings!

Thanks again to our friend, Anne Seeley, of Concerned Citizens For Santa Rosa, and her report on this week's City Council Agenda. 

The meeting has been postponed until Wednesday, Oct 11th, and  the District Elections Public Hearing until next Tuesday, October 17th:

Friends:

  There is no Study Session before the 4PM meeting.

Consent

   There are 2 Consent agenda items asking the Council to approve payments made to contractors in the past which were made incorrectly, without the usual system, but in which the equipment has already been installed.  Essentially, retroactive approvals.

5PM Public Hearing

 15.1 District-based City Council Elections: Compositions of Districts (California Voting Rights Act).   

Why is this happening?   First, the City received a letter from an attorney who has been successful in suing other cities at their great cost, alleging violations of the California Voting Rights Act. When the cities lose the court cases, they have to pay millions in public money to cover attorney expenses, the litigant's and their own..

   Second, Santa Rosa has been ripe for District Elections (DE), as it has annexed a 700 plus acre area in the Southwest, wherein much of the City's Latino population lives.  Spreading the political power in the City, in addition to lowering to a large extent the cost of running for City Council, is the aim.   

   This is the 2nd hearing of 5 to be held. Last week citizens came forward with ideas of what guidelines should and should not be used in the new mapping of districts.

    At this hearing, the same will happen, but with the likely addition of suggestions from several groups for where the lines should be drawn for the districts.

    After this hearing, City staff and the demographic consultant they hired will draw some draft maps and they will be available for the public to comment on.

 Check on the City's website (https://srcity.org) for the maps to see what will be presented to the Council on November 1, at the next Public Hearing.

See you there!

Anne