Burlingame chooses district map

Councilmembers hope the arrangement will empower constituents with shared interests to elect their representatives of choice by grouping neighborhoods deemed likely to have common desires. 

“Draft D takes all the different perspectives and the input into consideration and does the best job of trying to harmonize them,” Councilmember Emily Beach said. 

Under the new voting system, residents falling within each district will get a single vote with which to elect a councilmember who will also be required to live within the district. Maps will be redrawn every 10 years corresponding with the release of new census data. 

The first round of elections using the arrangement will take place next year, with councilmembers for three districts elected and the remaining two decided in 2024. Mayor Ann O’Brien Keighran, Vice Mayor Ricardo Ortiz and Councilmember Michael Brownrigg are all up for reelection, and while the decision has yet to be made, it is expected the districts where they reside would be first up. Councilmember Donna Colson and Beach would be up in 2024.

The map, however, puts Keighran and Brownrigg in the same district, district C, meaning they would run against each other. Colson resides in district A, Ortiz resides in district D, Beach resides in district E and no councilmember resides in District B, according to City Clerk Meaghan Hassel-Shearer.

Burlingame, like many cities in the state, decided to switch to district elections after receiving a threat of litigation alleging a violation of a state law prohibiting at-large elections if they are found to limit ethnic minority groups’ abilities to elect their preferred candidates. Given the difficulty involved with disproving the allegation, the city chose to not take the matter to court, which would likely have resulted in millions of dollars in fees.

Burlingame’s population is roughly 59% white, 28% Asian, 12% Latino and 1% Black, according to census figures. The chosen map does not create any districts with a majority Asian or Latino population, something not found to be feasible due to the spread-out nature of the groups, Paul Mitchell, a consultant hired by the city for the districting process, said.

“The Latino population isn’t locked into one portion of the city to where you could … create a Latino influence district or a Latino majority minority district,” he said. “Same is true with the Asian population.” 

Keighran, who was first elected to the council in 2005, noted she was not aware of an Asian councilmember ever having served in the city’s history. 

Mitchell explained the districts must follow certain criteria, some of which can inhibit certain goals. Population size between districts must not deviate by more than 10%, districts must be contiguous and compact and boundaries must follow those of census blocks.

A key point of contention for some was the dividing of the Burlingame Hills neighborhood, a necessity due to part of the neighborhood containing unincorporated land, according to Hassel-Shearer.

The chosen map would, however, lump the Lyon Hoag and Burlingables neighborhoods, communities that had expressed shared concern to do with the Peninsula interchange project planned in San Mateo and increased traffic. 

It would also, as Beach pointed out, create a district downtown with a “critical mass” of renters. Additionally, she said, two districts would contain portions of the Bayfront, allotting two councilmembers whose districts would face the “existential threat” of sea level rise. 

While the districts are required to align special interests, councilmembers emphasized that they will still represent the city as a whole, even if elected by only a fifth of the city. 

Brownrigg, who has consistently expressed his displeasure with the required districting process, vowed to “not get pushed into neighborhood politics.”

“I don’t believe this process is great for Burlingame, and I’ve said so for a long time, most of us have,” he said. “We have to keep legislating for what is in the best interest of the entire city.”

The city will hold a final public hearing to formally adopt the chosen map Jan. 3, at which time a decision will be made determining which districts will be up for the first round of elections.

Go to burlingame.org/districtelections to view a detailed, interactive page for the chosen map.

corey@smdailyjournal.com

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