Redwood City commission backs new district maps

After soliciting input from the community through surveys and public meetings and reviewing dozens of proposed maps, the commission unanimously backed a joint motion to recommend two draft maps to the council after agreeing the other maps were too similar. 

“They’re the greatest contrast and it gives the City Council something really to think about. … I would hate to have two maps go forward that are basically the same thing,” Commissioner Dani Gasparini said. 

The two maps, Draft Map C2 and Draft Map B, are largely similar in that they both keep the Redwood Shores neighborhood in a separate district while maintaining two majority-minority districts with Latinos accounting for more than 50% of the voting age population. 

Where they differ is in how they divide neighborhoods in the center of the city. Draft Map C2, a modified version of another map removed from consideration during the commissions Nov. 3 meeting, splits the Mt. Carmel neighborhoods into three districts and separates it from the Eagle Hill neighborhood to keep eight other neighborhoods whole. 

Alternatively, Draft Map B keeps Mt. Carmel and Eagle Hills largely together and avoids a three-way split but only preserves six whole neighborhoods. 

While Commission Chair Rudy Espinoza Murray shared a preference for Draft Map B because it avoided splitting neighborhoods into three, Gasparini said Draft Map C2 benefited communities of interest. During the last meeting, she and Commissioner Megan Gardner advocated for the changes reflected in the C2 map which groups portions of neighborhoods by similarity. 

Commissioner Lou Covey argued in favor of splitting neighborhoods, suggesting that elected officials and city residents should understand the concerns of other neighborhoods and school districts. 

Covey said he initially got involved in the redistricting process out of concern for his own neighborhood in District 3 but after listening to public input he said he became more informed on shared issues between districts. 

“Maybe breaking up these neighborhoods will give us all a greater understanding of the needs of all the residents of Redwood City, not just the needs of separate neighborhoods,” Covey said. “I think it’s a good idea. I think it’s good for the city.” 

Covey also noted that substantial development is coming to the city which is likely to change population distributions of neighborhoods. Similarly, Commissioner Lisa Hicks-Dumanske noted that the city has already changed compared to 10 years ago and questioned whether neighborhood lines were “set in stone.” 

The city’s neighborhood association boundaries were last updated in 2017, Assistant City Manager Alex Khojikian said, expanding the number from 11 to 17 neighborhoods, according to the city website. 

Ultimately, an effort to rank the two recommended maps by commission preference failed in a 4-7 vote but commissioners were fairly united in the decision to remove two maps from consideration, maps E and D.

Map E was the only map that proposed splitting the Redwood Shores Neighborhood but commissioners said they saw little benefit to the split because it didn’t create more majority-minority districts or lead to a substantial change in neighborhood splits. 

Commissioners also backed removing Draft Map D, a minimal change map which kept districts largely the same after accounting for population adjustments, because they agreed the city was ready for some change.

“We’re kind of past minimal changes right now. A lot has happened and the traditional neighborhoods are also evolving and I just don’t think that Map D serves the purpose of what we were charged to do here,” said Hicks-Dumanske, who proposed the map be removed.

No further discussion was held on Draft Map A which was fairly similar to the minimal change map.

All five maps considered by the commission will be presented to the City Council Dec. 20 during its first public hearing on the issue. The final hearing is slated to occur on Jan. 24 when the council is anticipated to make a final map selection.

sierra@smdailyjournal.com 

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