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The Santa Barbara Independent Redistricting Commission considered a new batch of potential electoral maps Wednesday — but a consensus has not yet been reached.
A variety of maps presented Wednesday evening kept the Eucalyptus Hill neighborhood intact in District 4, a concern expressed during last week’s meeting.
Now the focus is on the boundary lines for District 3, whether the Upper East neighborhood can remain intact and the Latino citizen voting-age population in District 3.
“We listen to all of you, and we want to incorporate all of your concerns. But there will be limitations,” Judge Abraham Khan, a member of the commission, said. “It’s not a perfect process.”
Santa Barbara City Councilmember Oscar Gutierrez said he liked Plan 103RE, which stretched his District 3 west, past Modoc Road. However, that plan only leaves the district with a 40% Latino citizen voting-age population.
Plan 105BE stopped District 3 at Mission Street and shifted it east to cover areas on both sides of the freeway. It includes some of downtown as well and has a higher Latino CVAP of 46%.
Mr. Gutierrez suggested a combination of those two maps.
Additionally, Councilmember Kristen Sneddon noted some of the proposed maps split the Upper East Side neighborhood between districts 4 and 6. She would like the neighborhood to remain together.
Up for consideration Wednesday:
Plan 101RE: District 1 preserved its coastal territory. District 3 shifted to include the apartments near La Cumbre Junior High School and shifted toward the coast to include Lower State. The total population deviation is 6.3%.
Plan 102RE: District 1 shifted away from State Street and took in Santa Barbara High School. District 3 moved further west of the freeway and encompassed more of the area around Modoc Road while District 2 included all of the Waterfront. District 6 covered all of the central business area. The total population deviation is 8.1%.
Plan 103RE: District 1 would include most of the Laguna neighborhood while District 2 moved more northwestern and would include the Santa Barbara Airport. District 4 shifted to include more area above Mission Street. However, the Upper East and Oak Park neighborhoods would be split between District 4 and District 6. District 6 would have the downtown area as well as a major coastal area. The total population deviation is 8.8%.
Plan 104E: District 3 would shift more east and share a Garden Street boundary with District 1 while also stretching to include the La Cumbre Junior High School area. District 6 would cross the highway and include some of the area around Modoc Road. District 2 would include most of the East Beach area with a little still preserved in District 4. The total population deviation is 8.2%.
Plan 105AE: Both District 1 and District 3 would shift east under this plan, putting District 3 on both sides of the highway and stopping at Mission Street. The Upper East neighborhood is split between District 4 and District 6 with District 4 including the Coast Village, East Beach and Waterfront neighborhoods. District 2 would have more of the Westside neighborhood and less of the beach but all of Santa Barbara City College. The total population deviation is 8.9%.
Plan 105BE: Under this plan, districts 1, 2 and 3 are identical to that of Plan 105AE. However, District 2 gets more of East Beach, splitting it with District 4. And District 6 gets more of the Westside. The total population deviation is 9.7%.
Plan DEC: This plan is very similar to Plan 105AE with a higher District 3 Latino CVAP than some of the other plans. The total population deviation is 9.1%.
“It is an embarrassment of riches for District 4 to have Riveria, Coast Village, the Waterfront (and) East Beach,” Councilmember Sneddon said. “The characters of those areas are very different. The voices of Waterfront residents versus the steep hillside high fire residents would be very different considerations that I don’t think they’d be as well served.”
Demographer Daniel Phillips said the map should be drawn with a total population deviation of less than 10% in order to ensure they are constitutional. The current map has a much higher population deviation.
Population deviation refers to the difference in population sizes among districts.
The next meeting is scheduled for Monday at the Santa Barbara City Council chambers at 735 Anacapa St. This will be the last meeting when new maps can be considered.
Mr. Khan said he was open to reviewing another blended map that addressed the concerns put forth Wednesday evening but said, “We are starting to get into the final endpoint of this entire process. How many more maps we can consider, I don’t know.”
The commission is slated to select a new electoral map on March 30. email: kschallhorn@newspress.com
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