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Home My WebLink AboutORD 1380' ORDINANCE NO. 1380 AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PALM DESERT, CALIFORNIA ADJUSTING THE BOUNDARIES OF CITY COUNCIL ELECTION DISTRICTS AND CONFIRMING SUCH REVISED COUNCIL DISTRICT BOUNDARIES WHEREAS, the United States Census Bureau is required by Article I, Section 2, of the United States Constitution to conduct an accurate count of the population every ten years; and WHEREAS, California Elections Code Section 21601 requires that following each decennial federal census, and using that census as a basis, the Council shall, by ordinance or resolution, adjust the boundaries of any or all of the City's Council election districts to be substantially equal in population as required by the United States Constitution, California Constitution, and the Federal Voting Rights Act. In establishing the boundaries of the districts the Council must give consideration to the following factors in the following priority: (a) contiguity of districts, (b) communities of interest, (c) easy identification of districts through use of natural or artificial boundaries and (d) district compactness; and ' WHEREAS, California Elections Code Section 21602 requires that the Council adopt an ordinance establishing Council districts by April 17, 2022; and WHEREAS, on September 27, 2021, the Census Bureau sent 2020 Census data to the State of California with an official population estimate of 65,954 residents for the City of Palm Desert; and WHEREAS, the City Council of the City of Palm Desert ("City Council") held four public hearings on January 25, 2022, February 10, 2022, February 24, 2022, and March 10, 2022, where the Council received briefings from the City's redistricting consultant relating to the redistricting process and state and federal redistricting criteria, including the California Elections Code, the Federal Voting Rights Act and the United States Constitution, heard public testimony, and directed staff and the City's redistricting consultant to prepare draft Council district maps for consideration; and WHEREAS, in addition, City staff conducted public outreach by way of two community workshops, held January 20, 2022 and February 22, 2022, with special emphasis on minority language communities, providing access to live translation in Spanish, and providing instruction on how members of the public may participate in the redistricting process and submit their own draft maps. Additional public outreach was conducted by way of print and digital advertisements, which led to public hearings with public comment on redistricting criteria and communities of interest; and ' WHEREAS, at the February 10, February 24, and March 10, 2022 public hearings, the Council received a presentation of various draft maps prepared by the City's 98988.10029\34879464.3 ORDINANCE NO. 1380 redistricting consultant for compliance with applicable laws and standards and reviewed I additional maps submitted by the public; and WHEREAS, at the March 10, 2022 public hearing, the City Council agreed on Map 3C, designating it as the preferred map and directed that it be presented to the Council for adoption by Ordinance; and WHEREAS, at each of the public hearings on redistricting, the Council heard testimony relating to "communities of interest," which led the Council to reach the following determinations about communities of interest on the preferred map, as required under federal and state law: (1) The election districts are geographically contiguous. The districts are arrayed in a simple and logical form without any islands and with minimal intrusions from the area of one district into another; (2) To the extent practicable, the preferred map respects the geographic integrity of local neighborhoods and local communities of interest. The Council heard testimony about what constitutes communities of interest in the public's view. (3) The election districts are easily identifiable and understandable by residents. The districts in the preferred map form a relatively simple pattern. (4) To the extent practicable, the election districts are geographically compact.' ' Their configurations for the most part are compact, simple shapes, with nearby populations included in the same districts. (5) The election districts comply with the population balance and other requirements of the settlement agreement between the City and Plaintiffs Lorraine Salas and Karina Quintanilla, dated November 2019. WHEREAS, all information in the staff reports, maps, presentations, Council debate and public testimony referenced above is hereby incorporated into this decision and serves as evidentiary basis for these findings and legislative decision. NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PALM DESERT DOES ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. This Ordinance is adopted following four noticed City Council public hearings as required by California Elections Code section 21607.1. SECTION 2. City Council elections shall continue to be conducted "by districts" in two districts as set forth in Exhibit A, with one member selected by District 1, and four members selected by District 2. The term "by district" shall mean election of members of I the legislative body by voters of the district alone, as provided in Government Code § 34871(d). 98988.10029\34879464.3 ORDINANCE NO. 1380 ' SECTION 3. All ordinances and resolutions, or parts thereof in conflict with this Ordinance are hereby repealed. SECTION 4. The City Manager is directed to take all necessary steps to give effect to this Ordinance. If necessary to facilitate the implementation of this Ordinance, the City Manager or his or her designee is authorized to make technical adjustments to the election district boundaries that do not substantively affect the populations in the districts, the eligibility of candidates, or the residence of elected officials within any district. The City Manager shall consult with the City Attorney concerning any technical adjustments deemed necessary and shall advise the City Council of any such adjustments required in the implementation of the districts. SECTION 5. The City Clerk is hereby directed to provide a certified copy of this Ordinance to the Riverside County Registrar of Voters for use in subsequent Palm Desert City Council Elections. SECTION 6. Compliance with California Environmental Quality Act. This activity is exempt from environmental review under the California Environmental Quality Act ("CEQA") (Pub. Resources Code, § 21000 et seq.) pursuant to State CEQA Guidelines, (Cal. Code Regs., tit. 14, § 15000 et seq.) §§ 15061(b)(3), 15320, and 15378(b)(3). The redistricting process is an organizational and administrative activity of the City, does not ' have the potential to result in either a direct or reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment, and is therefore not a project for purposes of CEQA. (State CEQA Guidelines, §§ 15061(b)(3); 15378(b)(5).) In the event the transition process does constitute a project, it is categorically exempt under the Class 20 (Changes in the Organization of Local Governments) categorical exemption. (State CEQA Guidelines, § 15320.) None of the exceptions to the exemptions found in State CEQA Guidelines, § 15300.2 apply. SECTION 7. Severability. If any section, subsection, subdivision, sentence, or clause or phrase in this Ordinance or any part thereof is for any reason held tobe unconstitutional, invalid or ineffective by any court of competent jurisdiction, such decision shall not affect the validity or effectiveness of the remaining portions of this Ordinance or any part thereof. The City Council hereby declares that it would have adopted each section irrespective of the fact that any one or more subsections, subdivisions, sentences, clauses, or phrases are declared unconstitutional, invalid, or ineffective. SECTION 8. Effective Date. This Ordinance shall become effective immediately upon its adoption. SECTION 9. Publication. The City Clerk shall certify to the adoption of this ' Ordinance and cause it, or a summary of it, to be published in a newspaper of general circulation printed and published within the City of Palm Desert, pursuant to all legal requirements. 98988.10029\34879464.3 ORDINANCE NO. 1380 PASSED, APPROVED, AND ADOPTED this 24th day of March, 2022. ki4�oHAARWK, MAYOR I, Anthony J. Mejia, City Clerk of the City of Palm Desert, California, do hereby certify that the foregoing Ordinance was introduced at a regular meeting of the City Council of the City of Palm Desert held on the 10th day of March, 2022, and was adopted at a regular meeting of the City Council of the City of Palm Desert on the 24th day of March, 2022, by the following roll call vote: AYES: NOES: ABSENT: ABSTAIN: ATiTEST: N � ONY J. CITY OF PAL JONATHAN, KELLY, NESTANDE, QUINTANILLA, and HARNIK NONE NONE NONE C5/'�-/ZeZ z- FORNIA I 98988.10029A34879464 3 ORDINANCE NO. 1380 Exhibit A Final District Boundary Map Agin Caliente Resort Casino Spa Rancho Mirage Whole Ft , � I,,,, tr T 1C Lj# itit 3SF,'Sf'€t «for and isrdtxr T, The Roserve Ct b Cahuilla Fitts s 98988 10029\34879464 3 Coachella valley Na lioncal WIt+Afe .. City of Palm Dcjsert Freedom Park Indian Wells PGA WEST Pete Dye Mountain Course 10 La Quinta ;1