Burlingame completes the switch to district elections

“At the end of the day, it was a compromise to address every single concern, but we did the best that we could,” Mayor Ricardo Ortiz said, emphasizing the extensive public input in the process. “You cannot say that we did not do proper outreach.”

Under the new voting system, residents falling within each district will get a single vote with which to elect a councilmember who will be required to live within the district. As they do now, the title of mayor and vice mayor will rotate annually among councilmembers.

The first round of elections using the chosen map  — “draft map D” — will take place November this year, with councilmembers for districts 1, 3 and 5 selected. Councilmember Ann O’Brien Keighran and Vice Mayor Michael Brownrigg both reside in district 3, meaning they will likely run against each other if they choose. Ortiz resides in District 1, and no councilmember resides in District 5. District 2, where Councilmember Emily Beach lives, and District 4, where Councilmember Donna Colson lives, will be up in 2024.

Maps will be redrawn every 10 years corresponding with the release of new census data to adjust for shifting population densities. The districts will start off at roughly 6,100 people each.

Burlingame, like hundreds of other 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, according to a distracting expert hired by the city. Burlingame has never had an Asian councilmember.

Responding to concern that not all community suggestions had been adequately taken into account, Brownrigg noted the complexity of drawing district boundaries given the need to follow state law, which requires that population size between districts not deviate by more than 10% while maintaining contiguous and compact districts with boundaries that follow those of census blocks.

“It’s like solving a Rubik’s Cube, not every turn is going to yield a good outcome that works,” he said.

The Burlingame Hills neighborhood is split between two districts, a prior point of contention for some. It was deemed the neighborhood was unable to be kept within a district, in part because some of the neighborhood lies behind city limits in unincorporated land. On the other hand, together in a district are 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.

Paul Mitchell, the district expert hired by the city, commended the city as “one of the best” in the state regarding conducting outreach.

“There was always a balancing that had to happen, that’s always true of redistricting,” Mitchell said. “The number one takeaway … everything about the final plan was done public facing, done with community of interest testimony first.”

Other cities on the Peninsula that have recently completed or are in the process of making the switch include Millbrae, San Mateo, Belmont and San Bruno. South San Francisco and Half Moon Bay made the switch in 2018, and Redwood City switched in 2019.

In recognition of potentially lower campaign costs to appeal to voters in a district instead of the whole city, Burlingame last month voted to decrease campaign contribution limits to $350 for individuals and businesses. The prior cap was $719.93 for individuals and $1,439.87 for businesses.

corey@smdailyjournal.com

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