REDISTRICTING TASK FORCE
CITY AND COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO
MINUTES
Horace Mann Middle School 3351 23rd Street
San Francisco, CA 94110
Wednesday, December 7, 2011– 6:00 P.M.
Special Meeting
Members: Eric McDonnell, Chair, Jenny Lam, Vice Chair, Member Mike Alonso,
Member Myong Leigh, Member Sonia Melara, Member Marily Mondejar,
Member David Pilpel, Member Mark Schreiber, Member Melissa Tidwell
1. Call to Order and Roll Call (6:12 p.m. to 6:14 p.m.)
The meeting was called to order at 6:12 p.m. All members were noted present.
Chair McDonnell announced that the agenda had been posted in all other required locations, however, the agenda was not posted as required on the Task Force's website, therefore, all action items would be continued to the December 16, 2011 meeting.
2. Introduction to Redistricting (6:15 p.m. to 7:15 p.m.)
Karin Mac Donald, Project Manager and Senior Redistricting Consultant for Q2 Data & Research, made a presentation about the redistricting process. Chair McDonnell invited the public to ask questions relating to the redistricting process.
Public Comment:
Ace Washington expressed concern about the number of African-Americans leaving San Francisco and discussed the need to ensure that this community remains in the City.
Espanola Jackson asked about the effect of redrawing lines between District 9 and District 10. She also stated that Bayview-Hunters Point is a community of interest, separated from the rest of the City by freeways and the Bay, and has been since the 1950’s.
Joshua Arce stated that the area around 24th and Harrison is a community of interest within the Mission District. He also requested that the boundaries of District 9 extend all the way north to Highway 101 because every part of the Mission is bound together, shares a history, and should all be in District 9.
Larry Del Carlo, Executive Director of Mission Housing Development Corporation, encouraged Task Force members to become familiar with lines which were previously drawn. He stated that in 1978 the Mission District boundaries were: Church Street to the west; Potrero Avenue to the east, the freeway to the north, and 30th Street to the south. He would like to see the Mission District reunited to include the boundaries as suggested by the previous speaker. He will work with other Mission District neighborhood organizations, coalitions, and associations to provide more input to the Task Force.
Mario Paz, Executive Director of the Good Samaritan Resource Center, also supported reuniting the northern part of the Mission District with District 9. He stated that there is a strong community within the Mission District and that there is a need to keep the district whole.
Otto Duffy, District 6 resident, stated that he was interested in incorporating the North of Market/Tenderloin Neighborhood all within the same Supervisorial District, presumably District 6.
Chris Bowman, member of the 1995 Elections Task Force, provided the members with a map that highlights (using 2010 census data) census tracts with same-sex households and stated that the LGBT community is a community of interest and should not be divided. He indicated that many LGBT residents live not only in the Castro area but also in Bernal Heights, Potrero Hill, and the West of Twin Peaks area. He also stated that District 11 has the highest concentration of Filipino-Americans in the City and he hopes that Task Force members will take this into consideration when redrawing district lines.
Joe Boss would like the public to have access to the software used by the Task Force’s redistricting consultant and would like Potrero Hill to remain in District 10. He stated that Potrero Hill residents share common neighborhood issues with residents of the Bayview such as the Mirant power plant.
3. Presentation by Past Task Force Members (7:15 p.m.)
There were no past Task Force member presentations made.
Public Comment: None
4. Mapping (7:16 p.m. 8:25 p.m.)
Karin Mac Donald, Project Manager and Senior Redistricting Consultant for Q2 Data & Research and Jaime Clark presented conceptual maps based on direction provided by the Task Force at its November 30, 2011 meeting. The Task Force discussed possible changes to district lines. The consultant provided an overview, began to explore possible new district lines, and also discussed potential Voting Rights Act issues with the Task Force.
Public Comment:
Russell Morine, Visitacion Valley resident, opposes any division of Visitacion Valley. He stated that Little Hollywood is a part of Visitacion Valley, not Bayview-Hunters Point. He also stated that the Asian-American population is not just the Chinese-American community, but includes Filipinos, Japanese, and Vietnamese and is a large and diverse group. He stated that the Task Force should take these different Asian-American groups into consideration when redrawing the district lines.
Tony Kelly, President of the Potrero Boosters Neighborhood Association, stated that his group's bylaws recognize the northern side of District 10's boundaries as the boundaries of Potrero Hill. He also noted that the maps' division of 18th Street through Potrero Hill should be removed; 18th Street is the commercial center of Portero Hill and the proposed boundary would split adjoining businesses into different districts. He stated that the Task Force should also review how many precincts would change in various mapping scenarios.
Judy Berkowitz, President of the Coalition of San Francisco Neighborhoods and a member of the East Mission Improvement Association, stated that one of the current district maps of District 9 had cut Portola off from their closest communities of interest to the immediate south. She also noted that the freeways are the obvious cut-off for District 9. The boundary between the eastern side of District 9 and the western side of 10 should be around Highway 101 and hospital curve. She also recommended that San Francisco General Hospital be included in District 9.
Chris Jackson, Member of the Community College District Board of Trustees and Executive Director of the Visitacion Valley Community Center, stated that Visitacion Valley needs to remain whole. He stated that District 10 is a working class area and is hopeful that this neighborhood remains whole because of its socio-economics.
Dennis Mosgofian, District 5 resident, expressed concern relating to the criteria being used to create the conceptual maps and the process. He also recommended that the Task Force focus on more realistic projections rather than visualizations.
Marlene Tran, a member of the Visitacion Valley Asian Voters' Alliance, stated that there needs to be more outreach through the ethnic media and suggested using Channel 26 or ethnic newspapers for greater outreach. She also requested that District 11 remain whole and that Visitacion Valley remain in District 10.
Chris Bowman expressed concern with the visualization maps. He recommended that the Task Force create a sixth conceptual map based on neighborhood boundaries. He stated that the Portola District should be in District 10 and Potrero Hill should be part of either District 6 or 9. He also stated that the Task Force should not divide either Potrero Hill along 25th Street due to the public housing in that area or the Mission along 24th Street.
Lupe Melaria expressed concern that Bernal Heights was not in District 9 on one of the conceptual maps and requested that it stay in District 9. She also requested that District 9 not be split along either 18th or 20th Streets but extend north to either 16th or 14th Street. That area has a large population which identifies with District 9 rather than District 6. She also recommended that the Task Force consider the SROs in the area.
Otto Duffy supported the second visualization's proposed District 6. He stated that the proposed boundary between District 6 and District 9 was a good solution to keep the Civic Center area in one district.
An anonymous female speaker stated that the Task Force should not divide Bernal Heights from District 9. There are many non-profit organizations which have been a unifying force between Bernal Heights and the Mission.
Oscar Grande, Community Organizer in the Mission and resident of the Excelsior, expressed concern about the outreach process for the meetings. He also requested that the Task Force keep the northeast area of the Mission District in District 9 and that the Task Force not divide Bernal Heights from the Mission. There are too many commonalities between communities of interest in these neighborhoods.
Lawrence Lee requested that the Lower Haight commercial district remain in one supervisorial district and not be divided. He suggested that the Lower Haight commercial district is more closely aligned with the Western Addition.
District 9 Supervisor David Campos thanked the members of the Task Force for their efforts and their willingness to volunteer their time for the City's redistricting process.
Recess
The Task Force recessed at 8:25 p.m. and reconvened at 8:35 p.m.
5. Public Access to Technology (8:35 p.m. to 8:55 p.m.)
The Task Force discussed options for making redistricting technology available to the public. Member Alonso has been preparing a draft proposal for public terminals throughout the City with redistricting software available for use.
The proposal would also seek to recruit local non-profit organizations, train them on how to use the technology, and make the public terminals available at their offices. He is putting together a list of potential non-profit organizations and will provide more information at the December 16, 2011 meeting.
Member Schreiber has been exploring District Builder software as a technology option and has asked the company for a proposal for San Francisco’s use.
Karin Mac Donald, Consultant, has had discussions with the Advancement Project in Los Angeles. She has sent them data for beta-testing. Their software could be made available to San Francisco at no cost. They may also have some resources available for client support and phone support for users. This program would allow the public to draw proposed lines and submit them to the Task Force for consideration.
The Task Force discussed time-lines and costs which may be associated with the of the technology options.
Public Comment:
Tony Kelly, President of the Potrero Boosters Neighborhood Association, suggested telephone surveys and greater outreach in areas of the City that would be most affected by revisions to district lines.
Otto Duffy supported lobbying for funding so that the technology could be made available to the public.
6. Community Outreach (8:55 to 8:59 p.m.)
The Task Force discussed scheduling of future community meetings and other outreach activities. Chair McDonnell reviewed the approved meeting dates for January community outreach. Chair McDonnell reviewed with the Task Force the proposed February schedule but these dates will be considered for approval at the December 16, 2011 meeting.
7. 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 Potrero Boosters Neighborhood Association.
Member Pilpel reported that the BART Board did adopt their final district lines. He also reported that he has prepared different maps with various scenarios and wants to provide these to Task Force members.
Member Schreiber reported that he has created a Facebook, Twitter, and You Tube pages for the public to view the power point presentation prepared by the consultant.
Public Comment: None
8. Approval of RDTF Minutes of November 19, 2011. (9:02 p.m. to 9:03 p.m.)
This matter was continued to the December 16, 2011 meeting.
9. Public Comment. (9:07 p.m. to 9:10 p.m.)
Chris Bowman inquired as to when a community group should submit a city-wide plan to the Task Force and what is the criteria for submitting the information. He also asked the Task Force to make more data available, so that more complete maps can be submitted by members of the public. He inquired if the visualizations provided by the consultant took the 5% population variance authorized by the Charter into consideration. He stated that he did not support efforts to force narrow population deviations between districts that would divide neighborhoods.
Otto Duffy stated that he thought that the Task Force should be strict about population deviation between districts because the census data it is using is already over a year old.
10. Future Agenda Items (9:03 p.m. to 9:06 p.m.)
Member Alonso inquired if there is a set of criteria for public submissions of proposed redistricting plans. Chair McDonnell stated that he would review that issue with the consultant.
Member Lam requested that the Task Force discuss a specific comprehensive plan regarding community outreach that includes funding, technology, telephone surveys, and media.
Member Melara suggested that the Task Force may want to approach the Board of Supervisors to see if there might be funds available to support Task Force’s work.
Member Pilpel requested that the Task Force add a future agenda item regarding the time-line for requesting additional funds from the Board of Supervisors.
Member Schreiber informed the other Task Force that the 2002 Redistricting Task Force did have criteria for the submission of publicly drawn redistricting lines. He requested that the Task Force approve such criteria and make it available on the website.
11. Adjournment.
The meeting adjourned at 9:10 p.m.
