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HomeMy WebLinkAbout01.b. Approve minutes of Special meeting held 09-03-20 Page 1 of 5 Item 1.b. CENTRALSAN jdf A- hom CENTRAL CONTRA COSTA SANITARY DISTRICT September 18, 2020 TO: HONORABLE BOARD OF DIRECTORS FROM: KATIE YOUNG, SECRETARYOF THE DISTRICT SUBJECT: SEPTEMBER 3, 2020 SPECIAL BOARD MEETING MINUTES Attached are the draft minutes of the above Board meeting. ATTACHMENTS: 1. Draft Minutes of 09-03-20 Special Board meeting September 18, 2020 Special Board Meeting Agenda Packet- Page 14 of 154 Page 2 of 5 CENTRAL SAN CENTRAL •NTRA COSTA SANITARY DISTRICT 5019 • MINUTES* BOARD OF DIRECTORS: MICHAEL R.MCGILL President SPECIAL BOARD MEETING TAD J PILECKI Multi-Purpose Room President Pro Tent Thursday, September 3, 2020 PAUL H.CAUSEY 6'00 p.m. JAMES A.NEJEDLY DAVID R. WILLIAMS DRAFT Open Session — Multi-Purpose Room (Video recorded) 1. NOTICE In accordance with the Governor's Executive Order N-29-20, which suspended certain requirements of the Brown Act due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, all Board Members participated in this meeting via teleconference. Members of the public were provided options to participate in the meeting as provided on the agenda. 2. PUBLIC HEARING PARTICIPATION President McGill welcomed the attendees and explained that this was the first of a series of public hearings to receive public input regarding the composition of potential electoral division boundaries as a result of the Board's decision at the August 20, 2020 meeting to transition to an area-based election system. He reiterated the ways that members of the public could participate in the live meeting. ROLL CALL A special meeting of the Board of Directors was called to order by President McGill at 6:00 p.m. Secretary of the District Katie Young called roll: PRESENT(via videoconference): Members: Causey, Nejedly, Pilecki, Williams, McGill ABSENT: Members: None These summary minutes are supplemented by a corresponding video recording available on the District's website at centralsan.org. September 18, 2020 Special Board Meeting Agenda Packet- Page 15 of 154 Page 3 of 5 CENTRAL CONTRA COSTA SANITARY DISTRICT September 3, 2020 Special Board Meeting Minutes-Page 2 PUBLIC HEARING NO. 1 3. Receive presentation by demographer on the transition process from an at-large to a division-based election system and receive input from the community regarding boundaries and composition of divisions to be established for division-based elections pursuant to Elections Code Section 10010 Mr. Douglas Johnson of National Demographics Corporation reviewed the presentation included with the agenda material. In response to a question from Member Causey, Mr. Johnson noted that the first election that will utilize the by-division election process would be in November 2022. He also noted that division maps to be developed as part of these public hearings would be based upon 2010 census data; however, the map data will have to be updated in 2021 after the census data becomes available. President McGill opened the public hearing and asked Ms. Young if she had received any public comments before the meeting. Ms. Young read aloud an email from Mr. Stephen Maris received earlier in the day in which he wrote that, as a past candidate for the Central San Board, he opposed changing to area-based elections because (1) no racially polarized voting is occurring, (2) there is no obvious violation impairing any protected class from running for the Board, (3) frivolous and vexatious lawsuits from groups outside the District should not be tolerated, (4) changing to area-based elections would contradict the goal of the California Voting Rights Act (CVRA) of 2001 whereby the pool of candidates (and minorities) would be severely reduced, and (5) the number of candidates for each seat would be reduced to the point that possibly no candidate would come forward, or an incumbent, absent any competition, could essentially receive a life-long appointment without the adoption of term limits. Ms. Young also stated that a speaker card requesting to make a live comment had been received from Mr. Jim Cervantes. President McGill welcomed Mr. Cervantes to the Zoom meeting and asked him to present his comments. Mr. Cervantes said he was a Lafayette resident who had attended last year's Central San Citizens Academy and the March 2020 Financial Planning Workshop. He said he appreciated the challenges faced by the District having received the letter from Mr. Kevin Shenkman threatening violation of the CVRA and agreed it was fiscally prudent to proceed with transitioning to area-based elections. As a resident for over 25 years, Mr. Cervantes said his only request when considering drawing maps was to keep the Lamorinda area intact. With a population of over 60,000, they have a shared identity and have banded together in the past on various issues concerning schools, fire protection, libraries, etc. For that reason, the Lamorinda area represents a logical area for one of the five divisions. He wished the Board well September 18, 2020 Special Board Meeting Agenda Packet- Page 16 of 154 Page 4 of 5 CENTRAL CONTRA COSTA SANITARY DISTRICT September 3, 2020 Special Board Meeting Minutes-Page 3 as they work through this process and appreciated their consideration of his comments. Member Nejedly said, ideally, everyone would be able to draw their preferred area map. However, the District has been threatened with litigation based on Latinos and Asians being underrepresented, so he presumed that any new areas map would have to take that into consideration. He agreed with Mr. Cervantes that the Lamorinda area was a natural unit, which is part of the reason he believed the transition to area-based elections would hurt the District. Ms. Young announced that the next public commenter was Dr. Scott Rafferty of Walnut Creek, who asked to give a virtual presentation. Mr. Rafferty spoke for approximately 20-minutes, giving his presentation entitled "Why Central San is Liable Under the CVRA and What to Do About It." He briefly recapped why the CVRA was enacted and generally agreed with Mr. Johnson's remarks, stating that there is no racially polarized voting at the District. He stated that Central San's service area was remarkably integrated; however, area-based elections, in his opinion, create more competitive elections. Dr. Rafferty explained how independence can add value and how elections can renew the Board. He also raised the question as to whether at-large elections supported the region's political infrastructure and stated that electoral divisions are about voters, not incumbents, or their challengers. Immediately following the meeting, Dr. Rafferty's presentation was incorporated in the agenda material, along with maps related to communities of interest and a CVRA Amicus Letter to the Supreme Court that he helped draft. A discussion took place regarding the challenges of engaging the public in this process, the method of developing district boundaries, the drawbacks of having to create maps with outdated census data, and the requirements for redrawing the map boundaries once the 2020 Census data becomes available. As to the latter, the District's Special Counsel, Marguerite Leoni of Nielsen Merksamer, explained that the process of transitioning to area-based elections is expensive, but nothing is more costly than litigation. The process of holding public hearings to develop and adopt division maps is compelled by statute, and the District is acting within the statutory timeframe. There being no further public comments, President McGill closed the public hearing. It was noted that a second public hearing to obtain input on potential electoral division boundaries was scheduled for September 21, 2020 at 6:00 p.m. Ms. Young said members of the public may send suggestions for the boundary maps to her at sod(a--)centralsan.org, and she will forward them to the demographer. BOARD ACTION: Held public hearing and received community input. September 18, 2020 Special Board Meeting Agenda Packet- Page 17 of 154 Page 5 of 5 CENTRAL CONTRA COSTA SANITARY DISTRICT September 3, 2020 Special Board Meeting Minutes-Page 4 ANNOUNCEMENTS None. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 7:32 p.m. Michael R. McGill, P.E. President of the Board of Directors Central Contra Costa Sanitary District County of Contra Costa, State of California COUNTERSIGNED: Katie Young Secretary of the District Central Contra Costa Sanitary District County of Contra Costa, State of California September 18, 2020 Special Board Meeting Agenda Packet- Page 18 of 154