Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutBOARD MINUTES 10-14-20 (Special, Public Hearing) CENTRAL SAN CONTRACENTRAL • IMHOFF PLACE, MARTINEZ, CA 9A553-A392 MINUTES* BOARD OF DIRECTORS: MICHAEL R.MCGILL President SPECIAL BOARD MEETING TAD J PILECKI Multi-Purpose Room President Pro Tem Wednesday, October 14, 2020 PAUL CAUSEY 6:00 p.m. ViISDADR wM Open Session — Multi-Purpose Room (Video recorded) NOTICE 1. 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. 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 PUBLIC HEARING PARTICIPATION 2. President McGill welcomed the attendees and explained that this was the third in a series of five 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. PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD FOR ITEMS NOT ON THE AGENDA None. These summary minutes are supplemented by a corresponding video recording available on the District's website at centralsan.org. Book 68— Page 190 CENTRAL CONTRA COSTA SANITARY DISTRICT October 14, 2020 Special Board Meeting Minutes—Book 68-Page 191 PUBLIC HEARING NO. 3 3. Hold public hearing to receive input from the community regarding draft boundary maps and composition of divisions to be established for division-based elections pursuant to Elections Code Section 10010 After a brief introduction by General Manager Roger S. Bailey, Douglas Johnson of National Demographics Corporation stated that he would be introducing the five draft maps included with the agenda material which were made available on the District's website seven days prior to this meeting. He said he was seeking feedback from the community and Board Members to narrow the maps down to a smaller pool or request revisions to the draft maps that would be brought back at the next public hearing on November 4 for discussion. Mr. Johnson introduced the following draft maps: • Map 101 — Focused primarily on Interstate 680 freeway • Map 102a — Focused primarily on city boundaries • Map 102b — Identical to 102a except in the southern portion of the service area • Map 103a — Focused on city boundaries • Map 103b — Identical to 103a except in the southern portion of the service area Mr. Johnson noted that the first three draft maps involved no Board Member pairings; thus, no election sequencing would be needed. Maps 103a and 103b, however, involved one or more Board Member pairings, with two Members in the same division who are on different election cycles. Mr. Johnson spoke briefly about election sequencing (see Slide 12 of his presentation). President McGill asked if the Board Members had comments or questions. Member Pilecki asked what effect, if any, the recent Supreme Court ruling to end the 2020 Census data collection on October 15 rather than October 31 would have on the process for transitioning to division-based elections. Both Mr. Johnson and Ms. Marguerite Leoni, the District's Special Counsel, agreed the ruling would have little impact. The new census data is expected to be available for the District's use by May 1, 2021, as initially anticipated. In response to questions from President McGill, Ms. Leoni confirmed: 1) The Health and Safety Code statute governing Central San requires it to complete any adjustments to division boundaries based on the new census data by November 1, 2021. 2) The Board would be entitled to develop entirely new district boundaries in 2021 if desired. CENTRAL CONTRA COSTA SANITARY DISTRICT October 14, 2020 Special Board Meeting Minutes—Book 68-Page 192 3) As a special district, Central San must hold a minimum of two public hearings for any boundary adjustments in 2021. 4) The public hearings can be special Board meetings, or they may be incorporated as part of the regular Board meeting schedule. Theoretically, both could be held at the two regularly scheduled meetings in October 2021. Member Nejedly said it appeared to him that the draft maps were drawn to gerrymander to a certain race to enable a person's election from that ethnicity group to represent that division. Mr. Johnson said the law requires that race cannot be a predominant factor. In just about every case, the maps follow the city borders, except for Map 103b, which splits Danville. Therefore, he stated that there has been no gerrymandering in developing the draft maps. Member Pilecki expressed concern about how little the public has participated in this process. President McGill opened the public hearing. Dr. Scott Rafferty, a Walnut Creek resident who had spoken at the September 3 and 211 2020 public hearings, asked to make additional public comments concerning the creation of draft division maps. His remarks focused primarily on the following areas: 1) Elections should be about voters, not the incumbents. From the ratepayers' perspective, he said there should be enough competition that there is engagement from the public. The Board Members should accept an element of political risk and not go about this process to protect themselves. He urged the Board to embrace the benefits of competition. 2) Clarification of the southern boundary of the District's service area. He said it was unclear to him where the border lies between the Dublin San Ramon Services District (DSRSD) and Central San, and how much of the Dougherty Valley was in Central San's service area. (It was confirmed later in the meeting that the boundary maps used by the demographer to draw the draft division maps were accurate. Most of the Dougherty Valley lies within Central San's service area and about half of San Ramon does not.) 3) The increasing Asian population in the southern portion of the District's service area. Given the increasing Asian population in San Ramon, Mr. Rafferty said it seemed likely that Central San will have a majority Asian district at the southern end of its service area once the new census data is available, which could affect the division boundaries. 4) Transparency. Mr. Rafferty said the incumbents should identify their residence addresses because the Board Members have taken them into consideration in developing draft maps. He said it is important to be CENTRAL CONTRA COSTA SANITARY DISTRICT October 14, 2020 Special Board Meeting Minutes—Book 68-Page 193 transparent in that respect, despite the appearance that there is little public interest. 5) Communities of interest. Mr. Rafferty's preference would be to draw conclusions on proposed division boundaries from the data on communities of interest. The demographics should form the basis of where to draw the lines. He opined that the District could have done more community outreach as part of this process because there is a lot of interest in his view. There being no further public comment, President McGill closed the public hearing. He then asked the Board Members if they had any comments or questions. Member Causey said he was pleased to hear Member Williams say that a formal outreach process should be done in 2021. He said he did not believe the city managers at the southern end of the District were aware of the transition to division- based elections. Member Nejedly expressed appreciation for Mr. Rafferty's time and effort in expressing his concerns but respectfully disagreed with him about public participation. Historically, Central San gets very little public participation. He said the Board has the District's best interests in mind, and it has been running very well. He took exception to the comment about not being transparent. He said he had no issue with anyone knowing his address and it is included in his election profile. Finally, he said he strongly disagreed with being forced to split the District into divisions so that each area can represent its own interests. Member Williams also thanked Mr. Rafferty for his comments. He agreed with Member Nejedly that the District goes to great length to invite public participation. He said Central San has a reputation for being one of the nation's best-run wastewater districts. Sanitary districts have very specific missions and he could not think of any issues that have not been addressed. In his opinion, the lack of turnover among Board Members was an indication that the voters like what the Board has been doing. BOARD ACTION: Held the public hearing and received community input. OTHER BOARD ACTION ITEMS 4. General Board discussion on the public comment process for transitioning to division-based elections, and provide direction to the demographer and staff on refinements to the draft maps Member Causey said that Maps 102a and 102b were of more interest to him than the others. He said he had no desire to propose any revisions since the maps will not count for anything at this point, pending the new census data. CENTRAL CONTRA COSTA SANITARY DISTRICT October 14, 2020 Special Board Meeting Minutes—Book 68-Page 194 Member Pilecki wished there had been more participation from the public. Despite articles and notices in the newspapers and on the District's website, public participation has been minimal. He also agreed with Member Nejedly that this transition should not be occurring. In terms of input on the draft maps, he did not like Map 101 because it split the Lamorinda area. He also said consideration should be given to changing demographics of the southern end of the District's service area. Member Williams agreed with Members Nejedly and Pilecki, noting that the reason for the transition was the threatened lawsuit under the California Voting Rights Act. He disagreed with Member Causey that this round of public hearings to develop a division boundary map did not matter. On the contrary, he said the exercise is valuable and will be utilized in 2021 when the new census data is incorporated. Next year's process will allow the public a greater opportunity to participate because it will have the benefit of seeing the boundaries under the final map generated by this process, which is invaluable. It will be a great baseline from which the public can overlay the new census data. Ms. Leoni responded to questions from President McGill with the following statements: 1) Division-based elections at Central San will commence with the 2022 election. 2) Board Members elected in 2020 will remain at large until new Board Members are sworn in after the 2024 election. 3) Board Members elected in 2024 will be sworn in to represent their division only. 4) Incumbent Board Members running in 2022 would still be considered Board Members of Central San while running for office. 5) Board Members who were previously elected at large and run for office in 2022 or 2024 may not use the term "incumbent"(because they were not elected to represent a division) but may state their office as "Board Member of Central Contra Costa Sanitary District." President McGill asked if anyone had specific direction for the demographer. Mr. Bailey reminded the Board Members that another public hearing was scheduled for November 4. He suggested keeping all the present options open until after that hearing. District Counsel Kent Alm said the Board must narrow down its selection of a preferred map at the end of the November 4 hearing. President McGill asked if multiple maps could be presented as options at the final public hearing, currently scheduled for November 16. Ms. Leoni said the best policy would be to let the public know the Board's preference for any particular map at the end of the next public hearing so it can be published, noting that the intention is to CENTRAL CONTRA COSTA SANITARY DISTRICT October 14, 2020 Special Board Meeting Minutes—Book 68-Page 195 formally adopt it at the final public hearing. If changes were requested at the final public hearing, the District would miss the safe-harbor deadline (because of the requirement to publish the final map seven days before adoption) and lose the statutory protection from a potential lawsuit. However, the Board would not lose its authority to respond to public comment. President McGill noted that the County published several maps and stated which one was preferred. Ms. Leoni said that was acceptable. In response to a question from Member Pilecki, Mr. Johnson said the Board must decide about election sequencing at the final public hearing currently scheduled for November 16. To minimize election sequencing, Member Pilecki suggested that a variation of Map 102b be developed that shows the Castle Hill area as it appears in Map 102a. Mr. Johnson said he would create such a map. Member Williams opined that whatever map is preferred, it made sense to keep the Lamorinda area in a single division based on that community's input. Mr. Johnson confirmed that all the draft maps presented at this meeting accurately reflect the District's service area boundary. BOARD ACTION: Provided direction to the demographer and staff. ANNOUNCEMENTS None. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 7:29 p.m. Dtil.i�,a.t,�, ►2. Dti1.�Gil,(, Michael R. McGill, P.E. President of the Board of Directors Central Contra Costa Sanitary District County of Contra Costa, State of California COUNTERSIGNED: 6tt' O" Katie Young Secretary of the District Central Contra Costa Sanitary District County of Contra Costa, State of California