Under a district-based election system, the City would be divided into new equally populated districts. A candidate must reside within an election district and is elected only by voters residing within that same election district.
Currently, the City Council consists of five Council Members who are elected at-large in staggered elections. This means any eligible voter who lives in the City can run for office, and every voter may vote for all five of the City Council Member seats in staggered elections, regardless of where they live in the City. Once elected, the City Council Members pick one Council Member to serve as mayor for one year, after which the City Council picks a different Council Member to serve as mayor. Council Members serve four-year terms of office.
Districting determines which neighborhoods and communities are grouped together into a district for purposes of electing Council Members. The City Council will seek input in selecting the next district map for electing Council Members. You have an opportunity to share with the City Council how you think district boundaries should be drawn to best represent your community either during the public hearings or by submitting comments to mapcypress@cypressca.org.
- Federal Laws
- Equal Population (based on total population of residents as determined by the most recent Federal decennial Census and adjusted by the State to reassign incarcerated persons to the last known place of residence)
- Federal Voting Rights Act
- No Racial Gerrymandering
- California Criteria for Cities (to the extent practicable and in the following order of priority)
- Geographically contiguous (areas that meet only at the points of adjoining corners are not contiguous. Areas that are separated by water and not connected by a bridge, tunnel, or ferry service are not contiguous.
- Undivided neighborhoods and “communities of interest” (Socio-economic geographic areas that should be kept together for purposes of its effective and fair representation)
- Easily identifiable boundaries
- Compact (Do not bypass one group of people to get to a more distant group of people)
- Prohibited: “Shall not favor or discriminate against an incumbent, political party, or candidate for office.”
- Other Traditional Districting Principles
- Future population growth
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.”
Below are useful excerpts from the Local Government Redistricting Toolkit by Asian Americans Advancing Justice – Asian Law Caucus (2020).
Communities of interest are the overlapping sets of neighborhoods, networks, and groups that share interests, views, cultures, histories, languages, and values and whose boundaries can be identified on a map.
The following elements help define communities of interest:
- shared interests in schools, housing, community safety, transit, health conditions, land use, environmental conditions, and/or other issues;
- common social and civic networks, including churches, mosques, temples, homeowner associations, and community centers, and shared use of community spaces, like parks and shopping centers;
- racial and ethnic compositions, cultural identities, and households that predominantly speak a language other than English;
- similar socio-economic status, including but not limited to income, home-ownership, and education levels;
- shared political boundary lines from other jurisdictions, such as school districts, community college districts, and water districts.
The City Council will reach out to local media and through social media to publicize the districting process. Our public hearings and workshop will be provided in applicable languages if residents submit a request in advance to mapcypress@cypressca.org.
The City Council will notify the public about districting hearings and workshops, post maps online before adoption, and maintain this dedicated web page for all relevant information about the districting process.
Share your specific thoughts, draw a map, or attend the workshop to get involved.
- Submit written testimony about your community, the process, or a specific map to mapcypress@cypressca.org
- Click here to see the calendar of public meetings at which you can speak about the process or a specific map.
- Click here for information on drawing and submitting maps.
These are standard categories included in the Census. Not all of the categories are relevant for creating district maps. Acronyms include:
- NH: Non-Hispanic
- VAP: Voting age population
- CVAP: Citizen Voting Age Population
- CVRA: California Voting Rights Act
- FAIR MAPS Act: Fair And Inclusive Redistricting for Municipalities and Political Subdivisions
- NDC: National Demographics Corporation (the firm hired to produce the maps and provide demographic data)
No, you do not need to submit a fully completed map. You can draw boundaries for only your neighborhood or only a portion of the city. It is helpful if you submit written commentary with your map describing why the particular neighborhood or area should be kept together in a single district.
Yes, you may submit more than one map. Please draw as many maps as you like. We suggest you submit only your top 2-3 preferred maps to assist the City Council in focusing on the map that best represents your community; however, there is no limit.
After you submit your map, the demographic consultants will generate the population and other demographic details for your proposed map. Maps can be viewed on the Draft Maps page or on the Interactive Review Map.
Once submitted, maps are considered public records.