Gilroy sets district map and election rules after months of deliberation

In a series of moves set to shape Gilroy s elections for years to come the City Council has chosen the final map for its districts and laid the rules for how elections will take place in Gilroy The map creates six districts and splits the city s heavily-Latino East Side into two districts the culmination of a months-long process that wrestled with how best to represent the city and its majority Latino population Overall I d say it s a positive move It s one long time coming revealed Kevin Shenkman the Malibu-based lawyer who sent the initial letter that sparked Gilroy s districting process in an interview I think it s a good thing that Gilroy has moved to districts and done so with a map that is decent I ve seen a whole lot worse The council voted to begin the districting process in late February The move came after Shenkman sent a letter threatening Gilroy with legal action under the California Voting Rights Act if the city did not move to district-based elections where residents in different sectors of a city vote for a single city councilmember to represent their district No city has won a lawsuit against districting under the state electoral process law and various including Santa Clara have paid out millions in legal fees after attempting to fight it Under the state voting law the city can avoid those hefty legal fees by creating voting districts in a day window by May for Gilroy Over four months of meetings and populace workshops most of of the general attention has centered on how districting would affect Gilroy s heavily-Latino East Side which was cited in the letter threatening a lawsuit as the impetus for moving to districts Gilroy City Council decided earlier this week on the final map for its six districts when those districts would be up for referendum and how long candidates should be residents before running Each of the six districts will elect a single council member with the mayor chosen by the entire city and three districts voting every two years The final two proposed maps in the Gilroy districting process Draft D left groups together Gilroy's East Side while Draft F right distinguishes between the north and south of the East Side Courtesy of Redistricting Partners City of Gilroy At their last meeting the council narrowed down their choices to two maps Draft D which kept the East Side in a single district and Draft F which outlined two districts in the East Side Several advocates and residents of the city s East Side called for keeping the East Side united arguing that best ensures representation of the majority-Latino group The East Side has been historically left out of key decisions that take place in the city declared East Side resident Tanaya Stumpf This is an opportunity to give the neighborhood and families like mine a real chance of representation It reflects who we are East Side resident Jesus Becerra argued that representation on the council could have repercussions for future generations I want to see kids inspired by someone from the city council from their neighborhood I want them to dream that they can make their area better Others claimed that supporting the creation of the two districts on the East Side goes against the spirit of the law that set Gilroy s districting process in motion East Side Gilroy is a vibrant culturally-rich region where blue-collar Chicano and immigrant families have called home for generations stated Rebeca Armendariz former city councilmember and whose family has lived in the East Side for generations We are unequivocally a district of interest and map F would break it up in violation of the California Voting Rights Act Even so several on the council and a heavy majority of email comments argued for the map ultimately chosen East Side is almost a third of the city I think it s only fair that it be represented by more than one person revealed Councilmember Dion Bracco who argued that the two districts in fact gave the East Side more representation by allowing them two representatives Bracco who lives in the East Side and whose family has resided there for generations also held that the map connected communities across the railroad that divide the city When I was in school I remember they d say Oh you re from the other side of the tracks And there s unfailingly been that stigma of the East Side of Gilroy Despite the apparent split in residents opinion the council voted unanimously on the map with two East Side districts The map will apply for the and elections after which the city will have to redraw its districts following the census The council also voted unanimously to put districts and up for voting in since no councilmember now lives in District and the councilmembers who live in Districts and District will already be up for re-election The districts represent the city s East Side and downtown core The remaining districts and will vote for representatives in Absolutely the council set a rule requiring candidates to be residents of the district days prior to filing their papers nominating them as a candidate Shenkman reported the City Council s decisions apparently rested on whether keeping communities in tact was more pivotal than the prospective effects of packing that public into a single vote Determining whether the final map ultimately strengthens or dilutes Latino vote could require complicated analysis he mentioned adding What is more likely to tell us whether that map was appropriate or not is the balloting results over the next one or two cycles