Gilroy narrows down to two maps in districting saga

In a move that will shape Gilroy s elections for years to come the City Council has narrowed its choice to two final maps outlining likely districts that represent different visions of the city s downtown and its predominantly-Latino East Side as it shifts towards district-based elections It s down to two maps Now this is where we really get to engage with the citizens reported Mayor Greg Bozzo at Monday s meeting Please reach out to us residents We want to hear from you We want to talk to you The council voted to begin the districting process in late February The move came after Gilroy received a letter threatening legal action under the California Voting Rights Act if the city did not move to district-based elections where residents in different sectors of a city vote for a single city councilmember to represent their district No city has won a lawsuit against districting under the state electoral process law and certain including Santa Clara have had to pay out millions in legal fees after attempting to fight it Under the state voting law the city can avoid those hefty legal fees by creating voting districts in a day window by May for Gilroy After pushing back their final decision adding additional workshops and receiving nearly forty proposed maps the city council has narrowed down the promising districts to two final maps The maps represent two conceptions of Gilroy and two responses to the calls to keep the more Latino East Side of the city together Connecting the East Side has been the central point of contention and the subject of widespread community comment over several months It also fueled the initial threat of a lawsuit which cited the different preferences of East Side Latino voters as a key motivation A multitude of have argued for a unified East Side district especially representatives from CARAS a region organization which has advocated for Latino and low-income families across the city Draft D one of the final two proposed maps in the Gilroy districting process The map groups the entirety of the city s East Side Courtesy Redistricting Partners City of Gilroy Their vision is greater part clearly represented in Draft D which distinctively keeps the entire East Side of Gilroy united using Monterey Highway as its western boundary Meanwhile the city s central corridor is split into three with lines that keep the city s downtown center largely intact Even so others have argued that the East Side is far from a monolith with variation between the different segments from the north to south bulk vocally Councilmember Dion Bracco a resident of the northern end of the East Side Councilmember Terence Fugazzi also pointed out that voters towards the north of the East Side voted differently with a higher preference for Latino candidates in the last polling than those in the far south Although the suggested map does not exactly align with the lines of last voting s precincts complicating the comparison I think it s a really good idea to have the two choices and get the time for the society to look at it commented Fugazzi Draft F one of the final two proposed maps in the Gilroy districting process The map distinguishes the north and south of the city s East Side Courtesy Redistricting Partners City of Gilroy The other option Draft F splits the East Side in two using a local Middle School as the dividing line It also connects districts across Monterey Highway while grouping downtown and neighborhoods straightaway to the west into a central core district Notably both maps treat the city s west side similarly and have four majority-Latino districts reflecting Gilroy s majority-Latino population The final map will be selected at the May city council meeting At that meeting the council will also decide which three districts will vote for new councilmembers in and which will vote in More information on the districting process and a form to submit general comment are available at cityofgilroy org districting