LAKE COUNTY>> Redistricting consultants from the legal firm of Prentice Long will present five drafts of possible boundary alignments at Tuesday’s 6 p.m. public hearing for Lake County’s 2021 supervisorial district plan. The hearing will be held in the Board of Supervisors (BOS) chambers at the Courthouse in Lakeport. Redistricting is conducted during census years in an effort to achieve fairly equal population distribution within each district and to keep communities of interest intact.
The proposed map options were prepared based on feedback from community members and the BOS after the Oct. 2, 2021, redistricting public hearing, according to a press release. The maps are available for viewing at https://gispublic.co.lake.ca.us/portal/apps/MapSeries/index.html?appid=ee10c2cbd3c44cdabaeb03ff0c142ea3
Option 1 proposes:
Moving the area bounded by Highway 29, the Nice-Lucerne Cutoff and Rodman Slough in North Lakeport from District 3 to District 4, in order to keep all the contiguous tribal lands in that area in one district.
Moving Riviera Heights, subdivision west to Lakeview Estates Drive, from District 4 to District 5 to keep all the “Rivieras” in one district.
Moving a small area east of Big Canyon Road at Ettawa Springs Road from District 1 to District 5 to keep as much of the Cobb Area Council as possible in one district.
Moving the “unassigned” block that’s currently split in Clearlake (between Districts 1 and 2) into District 1.
The “unassigned” category takes into account that one of the districts crosses a census block and an accurate distribution of the residents in the block cannot be determined.
Option 2 proposes all the changes in Option 1, and includes moving an additional block in Clearlake between Lakeshore Drive and Clear Lake from District 2 to District 1.
Option 3 proposes all the changes in Option 1, and includes moving the area east of Highway 53 and south of 18th Avenue within the city limits of Clearlake from District 2 to District 1 to help balance the population numbers.
Option 4 proposes the first three changes in Option 1, and includes moving the census blocks south of Lakeshore Drive in the City of Clearlake from District 1 to District 2 to keep the central business corridor along Lakeshore in one district.Option 5 proposes the first and third changes in Option 1, the additional change in Option 4, and includes moving all areas along Gaddy Lane and Soda Bay Road, north of Kelseyville and east of Kelsey Creek, into District 5.
According to current district boundaries, District 1 (Middletown area) has a population of 13,290; District 2 (Clearlake area) has 14,319; District 3 (Clearlake Oaks) has 13,916; District 4 (Lakeport area) has 13,810; and District 5 (Kelseyville area) has 12,712.
Among the four options only Option 3 shows a population distribution under 14,000 in each of the five districts. All the other options show District 2 with a population in excess of 14,000.
Consultants Margaret Long and Carolyn Walker will discuss the pros and cons of each option at the public hearing. A representative from the county’s Geographic Information Systems will also take part in the presentation via Zoom. Interested parties can take part in the hearing in person or via Zoom.
The last of the four redistricting public hearing is scheduled for 9 a.m., Nov. 30, 2021, also in the board chambers.
