Redistricting Commission Appoints Final Five Members

Redistricting Commission Appoints Final Five Members

Santa Clara County, CA— The County of Santa Clara’s 2021 Advisory Redistricting Commission selected the final five members to fulfill the 15-member panel. The 10 previously appointed members selected the remaining five members, one from each County supervisorial district, during the July 21 meeting. The applicant pool for the five-seats came from the remaining candidates who applied to the commission in May 2021.

“The commission deliberated and completed a thorough review to ensure the remaining five members of the Advisory Commission represented the diversity of Santa Clara County,” said Commission Chair Nancy Smith. “We are tasked with the enormous responsibility of redrawing district boundaries that are fair, that align communities of interest, and keep true to the ideal of one person, one vote. To ensure we submit maps to the Board of Supervisors that reflect our County, we want this to be a transparent process with involvement from the entire community.”

The last five appointed advisory commission members from each district, are:

• Maria Pineda, District 1
• Katie Swenson, District 2
• Edwin Tan, District 3
• Daniel Nguyen, District 4
• Raven Malone, District 5

The previously appointed commission members, two from each district, are:

• Cynthia Cooper, District 1
• Bob Staedler, District 2
• Mario Burnias, District 3
• Juan Pedro Velazquez, District 4
• Dana Tom, District 5
• Dolores Alvarado, District 1
• Peter Pham, District 2
• Nancy Smith, District 3
• Laura McAllister, District 4
• Katie Zoglin, District 5

Biographical information for each Advisory Commission member can be found on the County’s Redistricting website at https://countyexec.sccgov.org/2021-redistricting-process/2021-advisory-redistricting-commissioners.

Five commissioners (Seats 1-5) were selected randomly from applicants who submitted an application and met the eligibility criteria. The second group of five commissioners (Seats 6-10) were selected by each Supervisor to represent the five supervisorial districts.

After the selection of the additional five advisory commissioners, the members voted and selected Nancy Smith as Chair of the commission and Bob Staedler as the Vice-Chair. The role of the Chair is to lead and facilitate commission meetings and work with staff on finalizing agenda items. The Vice-Chair will take over the role of Chair if the Chair is absent.

The Board of Supervisors established the formation of a 15-member advisory commission to hold public hearings to collect community input and recommend to the Board updated placement of the supervisorial district boundaries. This includes significant public outreach in August and September to identify communities of interest and to conduct community mapping sessions in October. The Board of Supervisors is expected to consider maps in November and vote on the final maps on Dec. 7 during a regular meeting of the Board of Supervisors.

Commission Meetings

Commission meetings will be held virtually every two weeks at 6:30 p.m., from July – September. In October, meetings will occur weekly. The public is invited to participate and comment. The commission will also hold a joint meeting with the Board of Supervisors in the fall.

The commission is scheduled to meet on:

• Aug. 4, Aug. 18
• Sept. 1, Sept. 22, and Sept. 29
• Oct. 6, Oct. 13, Oct. 20, and Oct. 27

Get Involved

Community members can participate in the redistricting process. Residents will have the opportunity to:

• Attend and speak at the 2021 Redistricting Advisory Commission’s meetings
• Complete a Community of Interest Form to tell us about your community
• Submit maps electronically with proposed supervisorial district boundaries
• Advocate for the district they want or the district map they prefer

• Participate in the Joint Public Hearing with the Board of Supervisors and the Advisory Redistricting Commission
• Participate in the December Board of Supervisors meeting when the new maps are adopted

Go to www.sccgov.org/2021redistricting for more information and to follow the redistricting process.

Background

The redistricting process framework, approved by the Board on April 6, takes into consideration unusual time constraints faced during this decennial census. The U.S. Census Bureau is expected to finish processing 2020 Census data by Sept. 30, 2021, which is six months later than the original anticipated date of completion and significantly reduces the timeframe to delineate district map updates.

The County developed a six-month redistricting process that includes appointing advisory commissioners in July; holding commission meetings beginning in July; conducting public hearings and mapping sessions in August through October; and completing Board review and approval in December. Per state law, redistricting must be completed no later than Dec. 15, and be in place before the next election cycle, so that candidates and voters know in which district they reside.

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ABOUT THE COUNTY OF SANTA CLARA, CALIFORNIA
The County of Santa Clara government serves a diverse, multi-cultural population of 1.9 million residents in Santa Clara County, California, making it more populous than 14 states in the U.S. combined. The County provides essential services to its residents, including public health protection, environmental stewardship, medical services through the County of Santa Clara Health System, child and adult protection services, homelessness prevention and solutions, roads, park services, libraries, emergency response to disasters, protection of minority communities and those under threat, access to a fair criminal justice system, and many other public benefits.

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Media Contact: Laurel Anderson/Matthew Rudig, (408) 299-5119, [email protected]