GALT, CA (MPG) - Galt City Council held the first of several public meetings on Nov. 19 as the city prepares to create council voting districts. A demographer gave information about the process and what factors will influence the district boundaries.

Under the current at-large voting system, a person living anywhere in Galt can run for any City Council seat up for election, and voters can cast votes for all the seats.

Under consideration is a by-district system, in which the city will be divided into districts, each corresponding to one seat. A candidate for a seat must come from that district and only residents of the district can vote on the seat.

City Council voted to proceed with the transition on Oct. 1 after receiving a letter from a lawyer saying that the at-large elections harm Latino voters’ ability to influence the outcome of elections.

Jurisdictions around the state have received similar letters since the passage of the California Voting Rights Act, which is intended to prevent “racially polarized” voting.

The city is required to hold two public hearings for informational purposes and public feedback. The second public hearing is scheduled for the Dec. 17 City Council meeting. A third hearing on Jan. 21 will be the first time that City Council considers district maps. There will then be two further map hearings.

Elizabeth Stitt from the city’s demography consultant Redistricting Partners said the districts need to be of similar size, contiguous, easy to understand and compact.

They should also keep together “communities of interest,” which Stitt described as “a group of likeminded people who share common policy concerns and live in close proximity to each other. She cited shared public safety or public health concerns, environment, culture and housing as possible characteristics. She said communities of interest might include race but it cannot be the predominant factor in district drawing. Political party affiliation and the locations of incumbents and candidates cannot be considered.

City Council can opt to create five districts with the mayor chosen by councilmembers, similar to the current setup, or it can choose to create four districts with the mayor elected from the city at large.

Stitt said the districting will be based on 2020 census data, which measured the population at 25,704. Assuming four districts, this gives an ideal district population of 6,426 people, with a 10% margin for variation.

During public comment, City Council candidate Tim Reed opposed the shift, saying that Galt’s demographics do not create inequality in elections.

Councilmember Shawn Farmer asked how the process would account for uneven distribution of voters, given that the census counts all people, regardless of citizenship or voting eligibility.

Stitt said the districts must be based on the census numbers but the district sizes can be adjusted within the 10% margin for other factors.

Ongoing development also caused concerns for Farmer, who said it could skew the maps. Stitt replied that the maps would be redrawn after each census, starting in 2031.

Vice-Mayor Rich Lozano later cautioned against relying too much on predictions of population growth.

Interim city attorney Frank Splendorio noted that no jurisdiction has successfully challenged one of the letters in court and losses result in the jurisdictions paying “exorbitant” legal costs. If it is possible to draw a Latino-majority district, Splendorio said, that would disadvantage any challenge that Galt might consider.

“I think in the city’s case, there is the potential to draw at least one majority-minority district, and that’s going to be very, very difficult to persuade the courts in based on the existing legal standards just because they are so slighted in the other direction,” Splendorio said.

Mayor Paul Sandhu acknowledged opposition to creating districts but said the financial risk of resisting is significant.

“We have to work with the best interest of the public money,” Sandhu said.

Councilmember Kevin Papineau was absent from the meeting.

The city is seeking public input, including residents’ preferences for district lines and testimony on their communities of interest. Those wishing to comment can do so in person at one of the public hearings or by email at [email protected].

There is also a section of the city website with scheduling information and a survey that allows residents to provide comment or submit drawings of proposed districts. It can be found at bit.ly/3Vd0UvA (case sensitive).

In other business, City Council presented a donation of $5,000 to Cosumnes Fire Department and the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT). The money will help paint the old fire department building in Galt that houses CERT.

Cosumnes Community Services District Director Pete Sakaris thanked the city. Sakaris, who previously was a firefighter with the former Galt Fire Protection District, called Community Emergency Response Team volunteers “the heart of our community.”

In addition, City Council honored Galt High School alumnus Miguel Garcia. Garcia, who played varsity soccer all four years of high school, was named a co-athlete of the year at graduation. He was top scorer in the nation for winter soccer.