In October of 2024, the City received a letter from Shenkman & Hughes, P.C. (“S&H”) alleging that the City’s at-large election system violates the California Voting Rights Act (“CVRA”).

On November 18, 2024, the City Council adopted a Resolution, declaring its intent to transition from at-large elections for City Council to district-based elections for City Council.

Pursuant to that resolution, the City Council intends to consider adoption of an ordinance to transition to a district-based election system in accordance with applicable laws including Government Code Section 34886 and Elections Code Section 10010. That resolution directed staff to work with the City Clerk, City Attorney, a demographer and other appropriate consultants as needed, to provide a detailed analysis of the City’s current demographics and any other information or data necessary to prepare a draft map that divides the City into voting districts in a manner consistent with the intent and purpose of the CVRA and the Federal Voting Rights Act.

Dozens of cities, school districts and other local agencies in California have faced similar California Voting Rights Act (“CVRA”) allegations in recent years. Most have voluntarily changed their at-large election system to a by-district election system to avoid litigation. A small number have attempted to defend their at-large election system in the court system. Of the litigation that has concluded to date, none of those agencies have been successful and each of them incurred significant legal costs, because the CVRA gives plaintiffs the right to recover attorney fees.

The threshold to establish liability under the CVRA is much lower than the threshold to establish liability under the FVRA Courts use a four-part test to determine whether there is a FVRA voting rights violation and that test considers the totality of the circumstances. The courts use a two-part test to determine whether there is a CVRA voting rights violation and that test focuses on statistics.

Districting is the establishment of boundaries for election districts. It determines who can run and who can vote in each district. Candidates and voters must live within their respective election districts. This does not impact city services to the public. The only change the districting process creates is how City Council Members are elected. 

Districting only happens once. After City Council boundaries are established, the City will conduct redistricting to balance the district populations following the results of each decennial census, with the next U.S. Census collection beginning in 2030. This ensures that each elected official represents about the same number of constituents. All district lines must be reviewed to meet strict requirements for population equality and voting rights protections in accordance with the Federal Voting Rights Act and the California Elections Code.

Districting determines which neighborhoods and communities are grouped together into a district for purposes of electing a City Council member. The City Council is seeking input on the district voting map for Healdsburg. Community members have an opportunity to share with the City Council how they think district boundaries should be drawn to best represent their community.

Many factors may be considered, but population equality is the most important. Other factors include:

Topography: natural barriers, boundaries or landmarks.

Geography: major streets and neighborhood blocks.

Cohesiveness: contiguity, integrity and compactness of the area.

Communities of interest: established neighborhoods, groups with cultural bonds, common issues or concerns, voting precincts or other types of divisions.

Community input and Census data will be used to create districts. The City has hired professional demographer Redistricting Partners to help create proposed district boundaries. In the coming weeks, the community will have access to ‘public mapping tool kits’ to provide feedback on how districts could be drawn. The City’s hired demographer will draft proposed maps that ensure compliance with the Federal Voting Rights Act and the California Voting Rights Act requirements. The City Council would then adopt the final district map by ordinance.

A community of interest is a “contiguous population that shares common social and economic interests that should be included within a single district for purposes of its effective and fair representation.” They are the overlapping sets of neighborhoods, networks, and groups that share interests, views, cultures, histories, languages, and values and whose boundaries can be identified on a map. The following are examples of what can be considered communities of interest:

• Shared interests in schools, housing, community safety, transit, health conditions, land use, environmental conditions, and/or other issues.
• Common social and civic networks, including churches, mosques, temples, homeowner associations, and community centers, and shared use of community spaces, like parks and shopping centers.
• Racial and ethnic compositions, cultural identities, and households that predominantly speak a language other than English.
• Similar socio-economic status, including but not limited to income, home-ownership, and education levels.
• Shared political boundary lines from other jurisdictions, such as school districts, community college districts, and water districts.

No. Two council members will be elected in one cycle, and the remaining three will be elected in the next cycle two years later. 

State law does not specify the criteria for choosing which districts go first. If there is a district or community that is typically underrepresented, it may be prioritized. Otherwise, the decision will be made by the City Council.

No. A candidate must live within the district they wish to represent.

If only one candidate runs, that individual will be considered elected to the City Council. If no candidates run for a seat in a district, the situation will be handled in the same way as a vacancy. This will be addressed according to the California Elections Code.

No. The City is required to review and adjust the district lines following each census. We will next review the district maps in 2031 and make changes based on the data received in the census.