REDISTRICTING TASK FORCE
CITY AND COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO
MINUTES
Balboa High School Auditorium
1000 Cayuga Street
San Francisco, CA 94112
Wednesday, November 30, 2011 – 6:00 PM
Special Meeting
Members: Eric McDonnell, Chair, Jenny Lam, Vice Chair,
Member Mike Alonso, Member Mylong Leigh, Member Sonia Melara, Member Marily Mondejar. Member David Pilpel, Member Mark Schreiber, Member Melissa Tidwell
1. Call to Order and Roll Call (6:18 p.m. - 6:19 p.m.)
The meeting was called to order at 6:18 p.m. On the call of the roll, Member Tidwell was noted absent.
Member Pipel, seconded by Member Alonso, moved to excuse Member Tidwell.
The motion passed without objection.
2. Introduction to Redistricting (6.24 p.m. to 7:40 p.m.)
Karin Mac Donald, Project Manager and Senior Redistricting Consultant for Q2 Data & Research, presented a slide presentation of the redistricting process. Chair McDonnell asked the public for questions relating to the redistricting process.
Public Comment:
Supervisor John Avalos expressed gratitude to the Task Force members for their service to the City. Supervisor Avalos reviewed with the Task Force Members various neighborhoods within District 11. He requested that the most southeastern part of District 11, which is currently in District 10, be moved into District 11 due to the closer association with the Crocker Amazon neighborhood. He stated that access to this area is closer to District 11.
Edna James, President, OMI Community Action Organization, stated that her neighbors are concerned about public housing on Ocean Avenue and Capitol Avenue. She requested that the Ocean View Merced Park Heights area be moved into District 7, as it is mostly a single-family area. She also hoped that the schools in the area be kept together. She indicated that there is concern about the proposed Park Merced project.
David Hooper, President of New Mission Terrace Improvement Association, is in support of affordable housing. He requested that Balboa Park be moved into District 11. He also requested that Ingleside Police Station, currently in District 7, be moved into District 11. He would like to see the greater Crocker Amazon area reunited with District 11, and maintain the community of interest with Ocean Avenue.
Linda Litehiser, Friends of McLaren Park, requested that McLaren Park be divided to reflect areas of different interests.
Chris Bowman, Past Task Force member, agreed with the proposal to reunite the Crocker Amazon area into District 11. He reviewed with Task Force members the decision to divide this area in 1995 and stated that they could not split census blocks at that time.
The Portola District was divided into Districts 10 and 11 in the 1995 redistricting process.
He suggested that cohesiveness of voter turnout should be a factor in the redistricting process.
Mary Harris, President, OMI Neighbors in Action and District 11 Council, does not want Merced Heights to be moved to District 7 and suggested moving more of the area of District 11, closest to the outer perimeters to District 7, to District 7 and keeping all associations intact. She said having two Supervisors on the Ocean Avenue corridor has been helpful. She hopes that in the redistricting process Holloway will remain in District 11.
Member Melara asked for suggestions on how to redistrict District 11 to reflect losing approximately 7000 people. Members of the public shared the following suggestions with the Task Force: moving the area known as Eagle’s Beak to Sickles Avenue down to Mission Street to District 11; moving the area of Miramar from to Holloway to Ashton Avenue to District 7; moving the area North of Silver Avenue and East Mission to another District, and moving the area from Peru and Avalon and Ina Way to District 11.
Member Leigh inquired if it is legal to draw boundaries so that a community of interest is represented by two Supervisors if that is the community's preference.
Deputy City Attorney Mollie Lee indicated that the Charter states that district lines should reflect communities of interest and is not more specific than that. A community of interest could be reflected in more than one district, if is the community's preference.
Karin Mac Donald, Consultant, stated that if testimony from a community of interest indicates that having two Supervisors is the best representation for the community of interest then this should be taken into consideration in the redistricting process by the Task Force.
3. Presentation by Past Task Force Members (6:19 p.m. to 6:24 p.m.)
Quentin Mecke, past Task Force member shared with Task Force members his experience while serving on the Task Force in 2002. He encouraged Task Force members to use existing outreach resources from the City and County of San Francisco but not to rely solely on the City for outreach. In order to include broad public participation in the redistricting process it will be imperative to provide extensive and creative outreach through social media. He indicated that having the Consultant create draft maps to provide to the public does generate the public’s interest.
Public Comment: None
4. Mapping (7:40 p.m. to 8:37 p.m.)
Karin Mac Donald, Project Manager and Senior Redistricting Consultant for Q2 Data & Research, and Tamina Alon provided an overview and examples of the mapping software to look at maps, learn the impact of moving lines, and begin to explore possible new district lines. Task Force members invited the public to provide examples of areas to be relocated within District 11 by indicating changes on a projected map and having the consultant make changes using the mapping software.
Public Comment:
May Wong, Excelsior District, disagreed with losing north of Silver Avenue and suggested this area go to District 11.
Chris Bowman stated that the area south of Highway 280 over to Sickles was discussed in prior redistricting and was kept area in District 11 because it would split the Filipino community; the area north of Silver could be restored to District 11, agreed with putting all of Holloway in District 7, and moving Balboa Park to District 11.
Al Perez, Entertainment Commission, Member and a resident of District 11 disagreed with the moving the area as described by the previous speaker.
Claire Zvanski suggested moving Balboa Park to District 11; bringing Crocker Amazon area to District 11; reclaiming Ney Street neighborhood in District 11, and not moving Merced Heights from District 11.
Marlene Tran, Visitacion Valley Asian Alliance, thanked the Task Force for having translators available for the meeting but expressed concern that the agenda did not provide information in other languages. She emphasized the need for outreach through ethnic media.
Al Harris, Ocean Avenue Revitalization Committee, stated that having two Supervisors was very beneficial in the Community Benefit District process. He was against moving the area of Holloway to District 7.
Member Pilpel responded to comments relating to the division of the parks and stated that throughout this process there will be differing points of view and that Task Force members will need to take all this information into consideration.
Member Schreiber noted that much of the redistricting process would be driven by the extensive changes which need to be made to District 6. These changes will affect the entire redistricting of the City and the Task Force needs to keep this in mind as they draw lines.
He asked the consultant whether there are officially designated Voting Rights Act, Section 2 communities already. Ms. MacDonald indicated that they were in the process of doing a racially polarized voting analysis and will bring this information to the Task Force.
Member Pilpel is preparing maps with different scenarios and alternative deviations.
Consultant Assignments:
The Consultant was asked to provide conceptual options to balance district populations based on existing neighborhood information and public testimony.
Member Lam requested if the consultant could provide a sample of mapping suggestions made at the November 15, 2011 meeting for Districts 1, 2, and 5.
Member Leigh requested a sample mapping of District 5 in relation to the comments made to the compactness of District 5.
Member Pilpel requested to review the Parnassus, UCSF, and Willard area mentioned at the November 15, 2011 meeting.
These requests will be made in real time during mapping presentations.
RECESS
The Task Force recessed at 8:37 p.m. and reconvened at 8:50 p.m.
5. Community Outreach (8:50 p.m. to 9:13 p.m.)
The Task Force discussed the scheduling of future community meetings and other outreach activities.
Member Mondejar, seconded by Member Melara, moved to approve the following future outreach special meeting schedule: Monday, January 9, 2012 at 6:00 p.m., Saturday, January 21, 2012 at 10 a.m., Thursday, January 26, 2012 at 6:00 p.m., and canceling the Task Force's regular meeting of Friday, January 20, 2012 at 3:00 p.m. Sites for these meetings will be determined at a later date.
Public Comment: None
Motion passed by the following vote:
Ayes: 7 - Alonso, Lam, Leigh, McDonnell, Melara, Mondejar, Schreiber
No: 1 - Pilpel
Excused: 1 – Tidwell
6. Task Force Member Reports (9:14 p.m. to 9:23 p.m.)
Members reported on discussions with the public or public officials concerning the Task Force's future work.
Member Alonso reported that he had been in contact with the staff of Supervisor Carmen Chu and Supervisor John Avalos and has contacted the Visitacion Valley and Potereo Hill Boosters.
Member Leigh reported that he had been invited to give a informational presentation to the Building, Owners and Managers Association (BOMA). He informed Chair McDonnell and will be making the presentation on December 20, 2011 at noon.
Member Lam reported that she would be doing outreach to the Chinatown Self Sufficiency Coalition. She will let the Task Force members know if she is requested to make a presentation.
Member Mondejar reported that she is beginning to do outreach through ethnic media. She requested any additional outreach lists that might be available from other task force members or the Department of Elections. She also is looking into doing a press release.
Member Pilpel reported that he had made a presentation to the West of Twin Peaks Central Council, and for informational purposes the BART Board is scheduled to adopt its redistricting lines on December 1, 2011.
Member Schreiber reported that he had created Facebook and Twitter accounts. He has identified 43 neighborhood blogs. He is researching the use of a software program called District Builder which would be made available to the public and allow them to draw and move lines as utilized by the consultant. He will continue to research the use of this tool for the public.
Chair McDonnell reported that has been invited to make an informational presentation to the Public Policy Committee of the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce sometime in January. He has been contacted by a coalition of neighborhood representing African Americans, Polynesian and Asian Pacific Islanders communities in Districts 10, 11, and 7. They have asked him to make an information presentation, but no date has been determined.
Member Pilpel requested that the Task Force members receive a report on budget expenditures. He requested that the consultant or staff remain for the entire meeting.
Member Lam responded she is collecting costs and will provide monthly updates on the budget and expenditures. She indicated that this would be a future agenda item for either the December 7 or December 16 meeting. She informed the members that the outreach budget was for only 11 off-site meetings, and that they will need to decide to stay within the budget or request additional funding from the City.
Public Comment: None
7. Report from Legal Counsel (9:24 p.m. to 9:31 p.m.)
Deputy City Attorney Mollie Lee answered questions that were raised by Task Force members relating to the final deadline for the completion of the redistricting. She informed the Task Force members that the Charter language specifies that the final deadline for the completion of redistricting is before April 15, 2012, which means that the redistricting must be completed by the end of the day on April 14, 2012. She also informed the Task Force members that there is no legal requirement that Treasure Island be connected to the rest of its district by a bridge rather than by water. From a legal perspective the Task Force could consider moving Treasure Island to a district other than District 6, but it should be able to explain why it viewed Treasure Island as contiguous to that other district. The bridge connection is an obvious reason but the Task Force could also consider other factors such as physical proximity or ferry service. When the State Citizens Redistricting Commission faced a similar question with Coronado Island it decided to keep territory within districts connected by bridges—rather than water—where possible. So Coronado was part of the mainland district at the other end of the Coronado
bridge connector rather than another district with only a water connection.
Public Comment:
Edna James inquired as to whether or not the proposed Park Merced project will be taken into consideration by the task force in the redistricting process.
Mary Harris informed the task force members that Treasure Island was originally in
in District 11 and she would not like to see Treasure Island returned to District 11.
8. Approval of RDTF Minutes of November 15, 2011 (9:31 p.m. to 9:37 p.m.)
Member Melara requested the following changes be made to her task force report to indicate “that she had also sent emails confirming the December 7, 2011 special meeting at Horace Mann”, and Member Mondejar asked for clarification of the language “hearing held”.
Member Pilpel requested that this matter be continued so that he might have more time to review the minutes.
Member Mondejor, seconded by Member Leigh, moved to approve the minutes as corrected.
Public Comment: None
Motion was passed by the following vote:
Ayes: 5 - Lam, Leigh, McDonnell, Melara, Mondejar
No: 3 - Alonso, Pilpel. Schreiber
Excused: 1 - Tidwell
9. Public Comment (9:37 p.m. to 9:38 p.m.)
None
10. Future Agenda Items (9:39 p.m. to 9:41 p.m.)
Chair McDonnell indicated that future agendas would include the mapping item and regular standing items such as Task Force Member Reports, Community Outreach, Presentation by Past Task Force Members, and when the Deputy City Attorney is ready Reports from Legal Counsel.
Member Lam requested a budget item and a separate item on the use of technology as an outreach tool for the public.
Member Mondejar requested that the task force assignments be a part of the task force member’s reports. The Chair indicated that Task Force members should inform him if their report is an informational item or an action item so that it might be reflected as such on the agenda.
Member Pilpel suggested that the description of task force member reports on the agenda include language to include task force members' reports on their assignments.
11. Adjournment
There being no further business, the Task Force adjourned at the hour of 9:42 p.m.
