MINUTES
REDISTRICTING TASK FORCE
REGULAR MEETING
August 29, 2011, 6:00 PM
City Hall, Room 278
1. Call to Order and Roll Call.
Eric McDonnell, Chair
Jenny Lam, Vice Chair
Mike Alonso
Myong Leigh
Sonia Melara
Marily Mondejar
David Pilpel
Mark Schreiber
Melissa Tidwell
The meeting was called to order at 6:03 p.m. All members were present.
2. Set Regular Meeting Times and Locations.
The Task Force voted unanimously to set the first Wednesday of each month , at 6:00 p.m., in Room 406, and the third Friday of each month, at 3:00 p.m., in Room 416, as the regular meeting times and locations for the Task Force.
Public Comment: None.
3. Redistricting Task Force Bylaws.
Deputy City Attorney Shen briefly presented a draft version of bylaws to the Redistricting Task Force for its consideration. Members of the Task Force suggested further changes to the bylaws, including adding a provision that would allow the Task Force to create committees as necessary.
Public Comment: Lupe Melaria stated that it was important for members of the Task Force to attend community meetings.
4. Communications Guidelines.
Members of the Task Force discussed various approaches to outreach and communication. Among the issues addressed were the Task Force's outreach budget, translation of public comment and feedback, interaction with other City departments, inviting members of past redistricting task forces to future meetings, and whether the Chair should serve as the Task Force's media spokesperson. The Task Force also asked the Deputy City Attorney to assist in the drafting of communications guidelines, for its consideration at a future meeting.
Public Comment: Chris Bowman offered suggestions on how the Task Force could handle its communications with others. Lupe Melaria stated that it was important for the Task Force to have talking points on particular subjects or a template that all the members could use.
5. Legal Requirements for Redistricting.
Deputy City Attorney Shen provided a brief overview of the legal requirements for redistricting. Members of the Task Force asked questions about types of populations that should be considered and the Charter's restrictions on population variation between districts.
Public Comment: Chris Bowman discussed keeping neighborhoods intact and gerrymandering. Lupe Melaria discussed the percentage of the population that votes. Robert Rubin, of the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights, addressed some of the issues highlighted by the Task Force, including the Voting Rights Act's requirements.
6. Task Force Outreach Activities.
The Task Force discussed several different approaches to offsite community meetings, including how many rounds of community meetings it should hold, whether the Task Force should form outreach committees, when such meetings should be held, and whether the Task Force should consider its regular business items at community meetings. Chair McDonnell discussed next steps on this subject, including discussions with Karin Mac Donald of Q2 Data & Research regarding a draft timeline and information about redistricting that the Task Force could distribute to the public.
Speakers: Chris Bowman provided the Task Force with advice regarding offsite meetings. Lupe Melaria stated that only four languages would need to be translated at offsite meetings.
7. Future Agenda Items.
Task Force members discussed possible future agenda items, including:
Bylaws
Communications Policy
Consultant Work Plan and Timeline
Outreach
Chair McDonnell asked Task Force members to let him and the Clerk know at least a week in advance if they wanted to include additional items added to the next meeting agenda.
8. Approval of Minutes from the August 16, 2011 meeting of the Redistricting Task Force.
The Task Force, with an amendment to add the roll call vote on Item 6, the election of Task Force Chair and Vice-Chair, approved the minutes.
9. Public Comment.
Public Comment: None.
10. Adjournment.
The meeting adjourned at 9:25 p.m.
