City Of Napa Kicks Off Redistricting Process: What To Know

NAPA, CA — The city of Napa kicked off its 2021-2022 redistricting process this week by launching a website and educational campaign.

Redistricting is the process of adjusting the lines of voting districts in accordance with population shifts, and each city with district-based elections is required to redistrict every 10 years when it receives updated population data from each federal decennial census.

Since the city of Napa has district-based elections for four council members, it is required to reorganize its district boundaries prior to its next election which is in 2022.

Council Districts 2 and 4 were on the ballot on Nov. 3, 2020, and Council Districts 1 and 3 are on the Nov. 8, 2022, ballot.

Although the city recently established district boundaries for the November 2020 election, the boundaries were based on the 2010 federal census. Therefore, the city said it must update its boundaries based on the 2020 federal census which the city expects to be published by Sept. 30.

Under California Assembly Bill 849, cities and counties are required to engage communities in the redistricting process by holding public hearings and/or community workshops and doing public outreach, including to non-English-speaking communities.

With the help of its residents, the city said it will draw the new district boundaries and finalize maps that change how council members are elected for the next 10 years.

The city's said its primary goal when redrawing districts is to respect neighborhoods, history and geographical elements.

The city wants to know what residents consider the boundaries of their neighborhood; residents can help the city develop a list of "communities of interest"— or "COI" — to help redraw district lines.

A map of the city’s current council member districts is here.

What Is A Community of Interest?

A community of interest is a group of people who: share common social or economic interests, live in a geographically definable area, and should be included within a single district for purposes of effective and fair representation in future elections. There are some communities of interest that are considered “protected classes” in that they have rights through state or federal civil rights or voting rights laws.

Some examples of protected classes in districting would be ethnic and racial minorities such as a concentration of Latinx, Asian, or African American people. There are other potential COI that can also be considered in redistricting, such as: senior citizens, college students, people who live in a particular neighborhood, or even people who share concerns such as parents with young children, bicycle enthusiasts, topic interest group, etc.

A COI does not include relationships with political parties, incumbents or political candidates.

How Napa Residents Can Participate In The Redistricting Process

Residents can provide comments on a community of interest by completing the online COI worksheet. (If more space is needed to respond to worksheet questions, attach a sheet of paper.) To return the worksheet, send it via email to redistricting@cityofnapa.org or bring a hard copy to City Hall, City Clerk's Office, 955 School St. (If more space is needed to respond to worksheet questions, attach a sheet of paper.)

Residents can also give input during a series of public hearings and community workshops; see the city's Redistricting Schedule web page for specific dates.

Residents can send questions and input via email to redistricting@cityofnapa.org and can check out the city's Redistricting web page.