Rancho Cordova City Council on Tuesday narrowed down a list of possible by-district election maps, taking another step toward ending its at-large representation system.
While the public can continue submitting options until Sept. 7, the council decided to focus upcoming discussions on variations of three maps that would each create five districts with a rotating mayor.
The majority of residents who spoke during the meeting urged the council to move forward with five-district maps instead of ones with six or seven. They also opposed creating a directly elected mayor. Diann Rogers, President and CEO of the Rancho Cordova Chamber of Commerce, said direct mayoral elections may increase campaign costs and a five-member council supports transparency.
“Our board is concerned that any number greater than five will enable special interest concentrations to obscure the future of Rancho Cordova,” Rogers said during the meeting. “More than five districts will cover for elected representatives who remain targeted on special interests, knowing they only need five of their colleagues to address the issue as a whole.”
Rancho Cordova currently has five at-large council members who represent and are elected by voters throughout the city of about 79,000 people. Council members rotate who acts as mayor each December.
If the council gives final approval for a district map in October as planned, Rancho Cordova will become the third Sacramento County city in the past four years to end at-large elections because of legal threats.
Attorney Scott Rafferty and his clients petitioned the city in June to create districts for the 2024 election, alleging its current system violates the California Voting Rights Act. Rafferty argued the system gives white voters disproportionate influence, contributes to incumbents staying in office for years and results in underrepresentation for areas of the city. He raised concerns over Council members Donald Terry, Garrett Gatewood and Siri Pulipati all living in the Anatolia neighborhood, a more affluent and newly developed area of the city.
Other areas need more representation on the council, Rafferty told CapRadio, but residents in underserved areas might not be able to afford a city-wide campaign.
“The bottom line is that the people who most need help from the government don’t have a voice,” Rafferty said in an interview.
One of the draft maps under consideration in the city of Rancho Cordova districting process.City of Rancho Cordova
Under a by-district election system, candidates must live in the district they seek to represent. The focus maps the council selected would put Terry, Gatewood and Pulipati in the same council district. Unless they moved, they wouldn’t all be able to keep their seats.
Terry said he doesn’t know if he will run for reelection, but spoke in favor of creating seven council districts to give his colleagues opportunity to stay in office. He pointed to how voters elected Gatewood and Pulipati, respectively the first Black man and woman of color on the council, in the past five years. Gatewood was appointed to the council in 2017 before winning an election in 2018.
“I've been elected official for almost 15 years and I don't know if I want to keep doing it,” Terry said during the meeting. “But when I look at what's happened on this council and what the voters have done in the last five years, I don't want to necessarily undo that either.”
How many cities have switched to by-district elections?
Since the CVRA passed in 2002, 191 cities have switched or are in the process of transitioning to by-district elections as of this month, according to the National Demographics Corporation. The corporation is consulting Rancho Cordova on its districting process.
Douglas Johnson, president of the corporation, said cities faced a rush of legal challenges after a state law change in 2016. But the majority of California’s 482 cities — mostly small and medium-sized ones — still hold at-large elections, Johnson said in an interview.
At least 12 cities with larger populations than Rancho Cordova as of the 2020 census still hold at-large council district elections. Northern California cities in that category include Daly City, Redding, Tracy and Mountain View. Rafferty identified Glendale, which has about 197,000 people, as the most populous California city he is aware of with an at-large system.
In Sacramento County, Citrus Heights approved switching to by-district elections in 2019 after it received a letter from Southern California attorney Kevin Shenkman, who alleged the city was violating the CVRA with its at-large system. Folsom established district elections in March 2022 after Rafferty sued the city with the same argument.
Once Rancho Cordova completes the districting process, Galt and Isleton will be the only cities in the county with at-large council elections. Rafferty said he generally only challenges big cities, but noted that Shenkman has demanded a city with about 5,000 people to switch to a by-district system.
What’s next for Rancho Cordova districting?
For the rest of the districting process, the council chose to focus on maps labeled 508, 511 and 516. All of the focus maps, including variations, can be viewed on the city’s districting website.
The deadline for the public to submit draft maps is Sept. 7. Instructions on how to draw maps online or by hand are available on the website. The city will publish all new and revised maps for the public to review.
On Sept. 18, the council is scheduled to select a map and determine which districts will be up for election in 2024 and 2026. The council plans to give final approval for a map on Oct. 2.
Legal actions could continue if Rafferty and his clients challenge the map’s compliance with state laws. After West Sacramento approved a district map last year, a Yolo County judge ruled the boundaries violated the California FAIR MAPS Act. The judge ordered the city to adopt an alternate map Rafferty and his clients submitted.
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