A large number of LGBT supporters – wearing lavender and purple, or large rainbow stickers – spoke at the first open forum of the San Diego Redistricting Commission this past Monday, in the hopes of preserving District 3 and the LGBT voice on the City Council; however, the presentations from the speakers on how to accomplish that task were not unified.
Every ten years, per the City Charter, San Diego is required to review and revise its city council district boundaries. This redistricting task coincides with the federal census.
“The core principle of redistricting is to equalize population amongst the districts,” Midori Wong, Chief of Staff to the Redistricting Commission, said during Monday’s public hearing. “Per the city charter, districts need to be made as equal in population as possible or practical … and very basically, it’s to ensure equal access for everyone to equal representation.”
With the newly-created strong mayor government structure in San Diego, the Redistricting Commission is not only tasked with balancing the existing districts, but also creating a ninth city council district. “To our knowledge, this is the first time a new council seat has been added since the ’60s,” Wong said.
“Most importantly, each district will have one-ninth of the city’s population,” said Sharon Spivak, Deputy City Attorney. Based on the 2010 U.S. census figures, each new district should include 145,267 people. “The representation needs to be really, truly equal. We want to be as close to that 145,000 figure as possible once the lines are drawn,” Spivak continued.
Based on census information specific to San Diego, released just last week, District 3 is above that number by 6,941 residents and the boundaries must be redrawn to decrease the district by 4.78 percent.
It is the second smallest reduction of all the existing eight districts. District 7, which includes Miramar and Tierrasanta, needs to decrease by 1.43 percent. In comparison, the downtown District 1 is 37.31% above the target population goal.
In addition to other requirements that include geographical and natural boundaries, the new districts must preserve “identifiable communities of interest.” The LGBT Redistricting Task Force, which organized a large number of the speakers at Monday’s public hearing, is striving to prove to the commission that the LGBT community is a community of interest.
The creation of District 3 during the 1990 redistricting process was a huge step toward equality for the LGBT community, the task force has said. It has resulted in the election of three consecutive LGBT City Council members.
“There is no one definition of what is a community of interest,” Spivak said. “Residents of the city will be helping the commission to assist in identifying and preserving what they consider to be communities of interest, in order to retain common activities, social and lifestyle patterns typical and desired by members of the area.”
During the hour and half of public testimony, all but three speakers presented their views of how the LGBT community in District 3 is a community of interest. Three speakers represented other districts. The District 3 speakers were united in their goal of preserving the LGBT voice; however, they differed on what neighborhoods should be included in the new district.
Currently, District 3 includes the communities of Hillcrest, North Park, City Heights, Normal Heights, Golden Hills, University Heights, South Park, Kensington, Talmadge and Balboa Park.
Some speakers urged the commission to keep the communities intact. Other speakers suggested the commission shift the district west, dropping the larger communities of Kensington, Talmadge and City Heights, and adding Mission Hills, Mid Town and Bankers Hill from the west – all part of District 2.
“The task force doesn’t seem to be of one mind about what the right goal might be for District 3. Is that correct?” Carlos Marquez, Vice Chairman of the commission, asked after the presentations. Linda Perine, Chairwoman of the LGBT Redistricting Task Force, answered him by saying she will be working on that.
The Redistricting Commission is hosting nine more public hearings before it makes its preliminary recommendation. The next open hearing is April 30, 10 a.m. at the Balboa Park Club. A meeting specifically for District 3 is May 2, 6 p.m. at the Regional Transportation Center, 4001 El Cajon Blvd.
For more information about the Redistricting Commission, log on to sandiego.gov/redistricting or call 619-533-3060. To get involved with the LGBT Redistricting Task Force, contact Perine at 858-775-2950 or email at lindaperine@yahoo.com.
