Long Beach Municipal Code Art. XXV Councilmanic Districts and Redistricting

The City shall be divided, for electoral purposes, into nine (9) Councilmanic Districts approximately equal in population.

(Added by Meas. DDD, 11-6-2018, eff. 12-11-2018)

(a) The exclusive authority to redraw Council district boundaries is vested in the Long Beach Independent Redistricting Commission.

(b) The Commission shall:

(1) Be independent of Mayor and City Council control;

(2) Conduct an open and transparent process enabling full public consideration of and comment on the drawing of Council district boundaries;

(3) Comply with the provisions in this article; and

(4) Conduct itself with integrity and fairness.

(c) The Commission may:

(1) Adopt for itself rules of procedure not in conflict with this article; and

(2) Adopt rules and regulations for the interpretation and implementation of this article.

(Added by Meas. DDD, 11-6-2018, eff. 12-11-2018)

(a) Within six (6) months after census-block-level population data from a regular United States decennial census is made available to the public, the Commission shall adopt a final map establishing new Council district boundaries and a final report explaining its decision. The final map shall include a precise map and written description of the boundaries of each Council district. In the final report, the Commission shall explain the rationale for the Council district boundaries, including, at a minimum, an explanation of how the final map complies with the redistricting requirements and criteria in Section 2506 of this Charter and a reasonable justification for any Council district boundary that does not comply with any redistricting criterion.

(b) A Commission-adopted final map has the force and effect of law and is effective immediately upon adoption, unless on the date of adoption there are less than six (6) months until the next primary City election, in which case the final map shall go into effect after that election and any applicable run-off election.

(c) If the Commission does not adopt a final map by the deadline in subsection (a), the City Attorney shall immediately petition the Superior Court for an order prescribing new Council district boundaries in accordance with the redistricting criteria and requirements set forth in Section 2506. The boundaries prescribed by the Superior Court shall be used for all City Council elections that take place more than six (6) months from the date of the Superior Court's order and shall last until a final map is adopted by the Commission to replace it.

(d) The Commission shall redraw Council district boundaries once per decade and at such other times as may be required, as provided in subsection (a), unless the Commission is reconvened by a vote of two-thirds of the City Council to address significant population changes, legal challenges, or other issues, or is ordered to do so by a court.

(e) Any territory that is annexed, consolidated, or otherwise attached to the City shall be allocated to a Council district pursuant to this subsection, effective upon the completion of such annexation, consolidation, or other proceedings. The City Clerk shall update the final map accordingly.

(1) If the territory's boundary is contiguous to the boundary of not more than one (1) Council district, the territory shall be allocated to that Council district.

(2) If the territory's boundary is contiguous to the boundaries of two (2) or more Council districts, the territory shall be allocated to the council district with which it shares the longest boundary.

(3) If the territory's boundary is not contiguous with the boundary of any Council district, the territory shall be allocated to the closest Council district.

(Added by Meas. DDD, 11-6-2018, eff. 12-11-2018)

(a) The Commission shall consist of 13 commissioners and 2 alternates. Alternates may fully participate in commission deliberations but may not vote and may not be counted towards the establishment of a quorum. Alternates are subject to the same terms of office, qualifications, restrictions, and standards of conduct as other commissioners under this article.

(b) The term of office of each commissioner begins on December 1 of a year ending in zero, and expires on January 1 of the next year ending in zero. Sixty (60) days after a final map has been adopted, the Commission shall cease to meet, unless reconvened by order of a court of competent jurisdiction, or by the City Attorney to consider settlement options if the final map is legally challenged or by the City Council as provided by Section 2502(a) above.

(c) Nine (9) commissioners constitute a quorum. The removal of a Commissioner or alternate; the approval of additional redistricting criteria; and the approval of a proposed final map, final map, and final report require the affirmative votes of nine (9) commissioners. All other Commission actions require the affirmative vote of a majority of commissioners present.

(d) At its first meeting, the Commission shall select one (1) commissioner to serve as Chair and one (1) to serve as Vice Chair. The Commission may designate other officers from its membership, and may establish subcommittees. Subcommittees shall report on their actions at the next meeting of the Commission.

(Added by Meas. DDD, 11-6-2018, eff. 12-11-2018)

(a) Each commissioner must be a registered voter of the City and must either:

(1) Have voted in the City election immediately preceding his or her application to be on the Commission; or

(2) Have been a resident of the City for at least one (1) year immediately preceding his or her application to be on the Commission.

(b) The following persons are not eligible to be a commissioner:

(1) A person who, or whose spouse, registered domestic partner, or child, within the eight (8) years immediately preceding their date of application to be on the Commission, has contributed to a candidate for City elective office, in a single year, more than Two Hundred Fifty Dollars ($250).

(2) A person who, or whose spouse, registered domestic partner, or child - is or has been, within the four (4) years immediately preceding their date of application to be on the Commission, any of the following:

i. A paid employee of the City, including those employed by an elected official;

ii. A registered City lobbyist, or someone who was required to be a registered City lobbyist; or

iii. A paid employee of any redistricting contractor or consultant.

(3) A person who, or whose spouse, registered domestic partner, parent, sibling, or child - has been, within eight (8) years immediately preceding their date of application to be on the Commission, any of the following:

i. Elected to or appointed to, or been a candidate for, City elective office;

ii. An officer, employee of, or paid consultant or contractor to a campaign committee or a candidate for City elective office;

iii. A staff member, paid employee of, a consultant to, or someone under contract with any City elected official; or

iv. A principal officer of an active campaign committee domiciled in the County of Los Angeles that has made expenditures on candidate elections for a City elective office.

(c) Within 30 days of appointment, a commissioner shall file with the City Clerk a statement of economic interest, or similar financial disclosure statement, as required under the City's conflict of interest code, and shall agree to the City's Code of Ethics and written ethics pledge.

(d) A commissioner shall be ineligible, for a period of ten years beginning from the date of their appointment, to hold City elective office. A commissioner shall be ineligible, for a period of four (4) years beginning from the date of their appointment, to be appointed to another City commission, to serve as paid staff for or as a paid consultant to any City elected official or candidate for City elective office, to receive a non-competitively bid contract with the City, or to register as a City lobbyist.

(e) While serving on the Commission, a commissioner shall not endorse, work for, volunteer for, or contribute to any candidate campaign for City elective office. Commissioners choosing to engage in such activity may resign at any time, including after the approval of a final map to ensure that the commissioner no longer serves if the Commission is reconvened to redraw districts

(Added by Meas. DDD, 11-6-2018, eff. 12-11-2018)

(a) The commissioner selection process is designed to produce a Commission that is independent and that reasonably reflects the diversity of the City.

(b) The City Clerk shall, beginning in 2020, and in each year ending in the number zero thereafter, initiate and widely publicize an application process, open to all City registered voters who meet the requirements of Section 953, in a manner that promotes a qualified commissioner applicant pool that is large and reflective of the diversity of the City. The application period shall remain open for at least three (3) months.

(c) The City Clerk shall create an application available in English, Spanish, Khmer and Tagalog and as may be required under the City's Language Access Policy for prospective commissioners, and seek assistance from a broad range of community-based organizations in outreach efforts. Applicants shall attest on the application, under penalty of perjury, that the information provided is true.

(d) Approximately one (1) month prior to the close of the application period, the City Clerk shall report to the City Council and Mayor on applications received up to that point and any additional outreach that is being undertaken or planned to ensure that the applicant pool has a sufficient number of qualified applicants and reasonably reflects the City's diversity.

(e) After the close of the application period, the City Clerk shall review and remove individuals who are disqualified under Section 2504 of this Charter from among the commission applicants. The City Clerk shall maintain a public record of the disqualifications that apply to each person whose application is removed from the applicant pool. If the resulting applicant pool does not have at least 35 qualified applicants, including 3 qualified applicants from each existing City Council district, the City Clerk shall reopen the application period for one (1) month and conduct additional outreach to ensure that the pool meets these requirements.

(f) After removing ineligible applicants, the City Clerk shall publish and transmit to a screening panel a list with the names of all qualified applicants. For purposes of this section, "screening panel" means:

(1) The City's Ethics Commission, if that Commission is established by ordinance or under this Charter; or

(2) If an ethics commission matching the description in subsection (1) does not exist, a panel of Long Beach residents consisting of: one (1) retired judge; one (1) law, government, or public policy professor teaching at an accredited institution; and one (1) member of the governing board of a non-profit organization qualified under Internal Revenue Code section 501(c)(3) that has history of advocating for good government reform in the city. The panelists shall be selected by the Mayor from a pool of qualified applicants. Panelists shall meet the same qualifications required of commissioners in Section 2504. The Mayor shall recruit a pool of applicants to serve on the screening panel; or

(3) If an ethics commission matching the description in subsection (1) does not exist, and there are insufficient qualified applicants to form a panel pursuant to paragraph (2), a panel consisting of the City Attorney, the City Clerk, and the City Auditor.

(g) From this eligible commissioner applicant pool, the screening panel shall, no later than November 1, 2020, and by November 1 in each year ending in the number zero thereafter, create a subpool of not less than 20 nor more than 30 applicants most qualified to perform the duties of the Commission, including at least two (2) applicants from each existing Council district. The screening panel, exercising its independent judgment, shall make these assignments at a publicly noticed meeting after the public has had the opportunity to provide written and oral comment. The screening panel may ask additional questions of commissioner applicants at that meeting. The screening panel shall make each assignment to the subpool on the basis of the applicant's relevant analytical skills, familiarity with the city's neighborhoods and communities, ability to be impartial, and apparent ability to work cooperatively with other potential commissioners. The subpool should reasonably reflect the City's diversity; provided that, other than the requirement of geographic diversity in this subsection, no quotas, formulas, or ratios may be applied for this purpose.

(h) Immediately after the subpool has been created, and at that same public meeting, the chair of the screening panel shall randomly select nine (9) names - one (1) from each existing council district - from the subpool. These nine (9) individuals shall serve as commissioners on the Commission.

(i) The commissioners selected pursuant to subsection (h) shall select four (4) commissioners and two (2) alternates from the remaining applicants in the subpool. Each selection requires six (6) affirmative votes from among the nine (9) commissioners, and the selection must be made at a publicly noticed meeting after the public has had the opportunity to provide written and oral comment. The commissioners shall make each selection on the basis of the applicant's relevant analytical skills, familiarity with the city's neighborhoods and communities, ability to be impartial, and apparent ability to work cooperatively with other commissioners. The Commission should reasonably reflect the City's diversity; provided that no quotas, formulas, or ratios may be applied for this purpose.

(j) The Commission shall be fully established no later than December 1, 2020, and thereafter no later than December 1 in each year ending in the number zero. To meet this deadline, the City Clerk may establish other deadlines for the commissioner application and selection process described in this Section.

(k) The Commission may remove a commissioner for substantial neglect of duty, gross misconduct in office, or inability to discharge the duties of office, but only after providing the subject commissioner written notice and an opportunity for a response at a public meeting.

(l) If a commissioner resigns or is removed from the Commission, the Chair of the Commission shall randomly select one (1) of the alternates to fill the vacancy as a voting commissioner. If the Commission is unable to act because there are fewer than nine (9) active commissioners, the City Clerk shall, within one (1) month of making this determination, recruit a pool of qualified applicants to fill the vacancies. The remaining commissioners shall, within two (2) weeks of the pool being constituted, appoint replacement commissioners from this pool by a two-thirds vote.

(m) For purposes of this section, "diversity" includes, but is not limited to, racial, ethnic, gender, and sexual orientation diversity.

(Added by Meas. DDD, 11-6-2018, eff. 12-11-2018)

(a) The Commission shall draw its final map so that:

(1) Council districts are as nearly equal as practicable in total population;

(2) The final map complies with the U.S. Constitution; the Federal Voting Rights Act, the California Constitution; and any other requirement of federal or state law applicable to charter cities; and

(3) Each Council district is geographically contiguous, to the extent practicable, and has a clearly defined boundary.

(b) In addition to following the requirements of subsection (a), the Commission shall consider the following criteria when drawing the final map, in order of priority:

(1) The geographic integrity of a neighborhood should be respected in a manner that minimizes its division.

(2) Communities of interest. The geographic integrity of a community of interest should be respected in a manner that minimizes its division. A community of interest is a contiguous population that shares common social and economic interests that should be included within a single district for purposes of its effective and fair representation;

(3) Neighborhoods and communities sharing a common language, history, culture and identity should not be divided so as to dilute their voting power;

(4) Geography and topography: Districts should respect major topographic and geographic features of the City;

(5) District boundaries should be easily identifiable and understandable by voters. Districts should be bounded by natural and artificial barriers, by street lines, and/or by City boundary lines;

(6) Districts should be geographically compact such that nearby areas of population are not bypassed for more distant population;

(7) All lines must correspond to census blocks in order to preserve the validity of data and avoid arbitrary boundaries; and

(8) Other Commission may adopt other criteria that do not conflict with the other requirements and criteria listed in this section or with state or federal law.

(c) The Commission shall not consider place of residence of any individual, including any incumbent or political candidate, in the creation of a map.

(d) The Commission shall number each Council district such that, for as many residents as possible, the number of the Council district they reside in remains the same.

(e) The Commission shall not draw districts for the purpose of favoring or discriminating against a political party.

(Added by Meas. DDD, 11-6-2018, eff. 12-11-2018)

(a) The Commission shall establish and implement an open meeting process for public input and deliberation that is promoted through an outreach program to solicit broad public participation in the redistricting process. The Commission shall comply with all applicable State and City requirements for open meetings.

(b) Prior to adopting a final map, the Commission shall hold at least nine (9) public meetings, including one (1) public meeting in each existing Council district. A final map may not be adopted unless a proposed final map with substantially similar Council district boundaries has been adopted at least seven (7) days earlier at a prior public meeting.

(c) The Commission shall establish and implement a process for accepting written public comment, including the submission of draft maps and draft partial maps for the Commission's consideration.

(d) Commission members and staff may not communicate with or receive communications about redistricting matters from anyone except at a public meeting or through the process established for accepting written public comment. This subsection does not prohibit:

(1) communication between Commission members, staff, legal counsel, and consultants retained by the Commission that is otherwise permitted by State and City open meeting requirements; or

(2) commissioners, staff, legal counsel, or consultants from engaging in public education and outreach, including explaining how the Commission functions and encouraging public participation in the redistricting process.

(e) Any person who is compensated for communicating with the Commission or any commissioner, other than a reimbursement of reasonable travel expenses, shall identify the party compensating them in such communication.

(Added by Meas. DDD, 11-6-2018, eff. 12-11-2018)

(a) The Commission shall comply with the California Public Records Act, commencing with section 6250 of the California Government Code, or its successor, and any City laws regarding public records, to the degree they require greater disclosure and retention of Commission records than is provided in this article.

(b) The Commission and its subcommittees shall keep minutes of all discussion and actions taken at public meetings. The minutes should be adopted at the next public meeting of that body. To the greatest extent practicable, all public meetings of the Commission and its subcommittees shall be video recorded.

(c) To the greatest extent practicable, the Commission shall make available to the public a free electronic mapping tool, loaded with relevant population and demographic data, which tool can be used to create draft maps and draft partial maps.

(Added by Meas. DDD, 11-6-2018, eff. 12-11-2018)

(a) The City Council shall appropriate sufficient funds to recruit commissioners, meet the operational needs of the Commission, and conduct any outreach program to solicit broad public participation in the redistricting process.

(b) The City Manager, City Clerk, and City Attorney shall assign sufficient staff to support the Commission. The Commission shall be staffed by no less than three (3) City employees: the City Manager, the City Clerk, and the City Attorney, or their respective representatives. The City Attorney's, or his/her respective representative's, only client on matters relating to redistricting is the Commission.

(c) The City Clerk and the City Attorney, or their respective representatives, shall, no later than March 1, 2021, and thereafter by March 1 in every year ending in one, train the commissioners on the requirements of this article, federal and state law regarding redistricting, open meeting requirements, and general rules of parliamentary procedure.

(d) The City Manager and the City Clerk shall, by January 1, 2020, and thereafter by January 1 in every year ending in zero, provide a report to the Mayor and City Council that explains, at minimum, plans for: recruiting a qualified applicant pool that the reflects the City's diversity; assigning sufficient staff to support the Commission's activities; training commissioners; providing work space and relevant technology to support the Commission's activities; facilitating an open selection process to hire redistricting consultants; identifying and reserving meeting spaces suitable for holding public meetings in each Council district; creating a website for the Commission; and encouraging public participation in the redistricting process.

(e) Within 60 days after the adoption of a final map, the Commission shall transmit a report to the Mayor and City Council recommending any changes, including amendments to this article, that could improve the redistricting process in future years. The City Council may, by two-thirds vote, adopt by ordinance changes to time limits and deadlines imposed by this article that are specifically recommended by the Commission.

(Added by Meas. DDD, 11-6-2018, eff. 12-11-2018)

(a) Any registered voter in the City may file a petition for a writ of mandate or writ of prohibition within ninety (90) days after the Commission has adopted a final map, to bar the implementation of all or a portion of the new Council district boundaries on the grounds that the final map violates this article. No legal challenge may be brought against the final map under this article after the 90-day period has expired.

(b) If a legal challenge is successfully brought against the final map, the Court may correct the violation by court order adjusting Council district boundaries consistent with the redistricting requirements and criteria of Section 2506; alternatively, if the Court finds the final map requires significant revisions or must be entirely redrawn, the Court may order the Commission to reconvene to adjust or adopt new Council district boundaries.

(Added by Meas. DDD, 11-6-2018, eff. 12-11-2018)