"Moving to district elections is a proactive measure we can take to help ensure all areas of Yuba City are represented on the council”

YUBA CITY, CA (MPG) - At its September 7 meeting, the Yuba City City Council will consider a  proposed schedule of public meetings that would start the process to transition the city from at-large elections to by-district elections. Members of the public will be encouraged to attend the meetings to learn more about elections and voter rights laws and share their thoughts on how the districts should be divided.

Since the City of Yuba City was incorporated in 1908, the city has elected its Councilmembers through an at-large election system, where registered voters elect all five City Councilmembers regardless of where the candidate, or the voter, reside in the city. Under by-district elections, the city will be divided into five districts, and each voter will vote in their district of residence for one candidate who resides in their district. City Council elections would continue to occur every two years, with either two or three seats elected to four-year terms.

All California county board of supervisors are already elected by district. The transition to district elections for cities is now becoming increasingly common in California. Regionally, the cities of Chico, Davis, Citrus Heights, Elk Grove, and Roseville have all recently transitioned to district elections. One of the reasons for these transitions is that district elections are consistent with the California Voting Rights Act, which encourages district elections for communities with a significant population of minority groups. Additionally, if certain jurisdictions do not transition themself, they could be compelled to do so by a judge through a process that could potentially restrict community input. To avoid this, and despite COVID-related delays of the 2020 Federal Census, City staff have been preparing the initial groundwork to allow the City to move to elections by districts to allow greater community participation.

While population equality and contiguousness will be the most important factors when creating the districts, they will be drawn to ensure as best as possible that neighborhoods and communities with shared features will remain together. Some of the community features to consider will be school attendance areas; natural dividing lines such as major roads and highways; areas around parks and other neighborhood landmarks; shared demographic characteristics such as income, education and languages spoken at home; and planning for future growth.

“Yuba City is growing. Moving to district elections is a proactive measure we can take to help ensure all areas of Yuba City are represented on the council,” said Yuba City Mayor Marc Boomgaarden. “We want to encourage more folks to participate in local politics. If you are interested in getting involved, this is the time.”

If passed by the council at the September 7 meeting, Yuba City will have at least two public hearings to provide initial input as to how the districting maps should be drawn, and then at least two more public hearings for the community to provide input on the draft map(s). For more information, visit www.yubacity.net. To sign-up for City of Yuba City eAlerts and newsletters, click the eAlerts icon and fill out the online form.