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Public Hearing: Consider New City Council Ward Boundary Lines December 19, 2011 Page 2 of 4 bring Wards back into compliance with equal population representation. The number of Wards in the City are to remain the same. Re-boundary Standards When deciding upon a proposed map, the City Council must keep in mind certain standards in order to comply with the law. The following are mandatory for any proposed map: • The wards must be as nearly equal in population as may be (Elections Code § 21601). Exact equality of population is not required for the wards, but they should strive to create wards that have a total population deviation of no more than 10% between their most heavily populated ward and the least populated wards. Gaffney v. Cummings, 412 U.S. 772 (1973). • The City Council may also rely upon the following "traditional" re-boundary factors when deciding upon a map: • Cohesiveness, continuity, integrity, and compactness of territory (Elections Code § 21601) • Community of interest (Elections Code § 21601) • Finally, the following are additional criteria which are also acceptable to consider: • Traditional boundaries • Preservation of core of prior Wards Current and Proposed Map An Ad Hoc Committee comprised of Councilmembers Tinajero, Benavides, and Martinez reviewed the data and recommends approval of Proposed Map #2 that provides the most equity amongst each Ward. An initial proposal was prepared by the Committee and following feedback received from the community, a revised map was prepared and is being recommended for approval. Proposal #2 makes minor adjustments to the original proposal and maintains some of the original boundary lines while balancing the population even closer to average goal of 54,088. The attached Proposed Map #2 includes original boundary lines marked in red with the proposed ward boundaries in different colors; current and proposed population breakdown by Ward. A map depicting current and proposed Neighborhood Associations is included as an example of community of interest - the Committee made an effort to keep neighborhoods together as much as possible. The Clerk of the Council Office has not received any other proposals and only one email commenting on the matter that is included to this agenda report and made part of the record. Any other proposed maps or communication received by members of the public will be made available to the Council for consideration. 75A-2