Today is a big day for many California public agencies. It is one of the first major due dates to complete the redistricting process. Agencies with June 2022 elections have been working aggressively through the process, which includes implementing new rules created under the FAIR MAPS Act. All of this has been accomplished while the agencies are dealing with a truncated timeline that suffered from a delay in release of the Census data due to the pandemic. It was a perfect storm of challenges, and local government still delivered.

Our team is working with nearly 60 agencies on their redistricting processes. Sometimes we are just building a website. For others, we are managing the entire project. From the County of Merced to the City of Carlsbad - we are living and breathing redistricting. While today put a few projects in the done category, we still have a couple dozen to focus on through April 2022. But the experience and processes with these agencies have been gratifying and speaks well of local government.

First, agency staff have been focused on doing a good job, in a safe manner, that invites everyone to participate in the process. The emphasis has been on transparency and education - two foundational elements of representative government and certainly important priorities to include when making changes to how we elect our representatives.

Second, public agencies have innovated to flex with the pandemic while remaining engaged. Virtual seminars, live streaming meetings, taking digital comments and providing online mapping tools have been deployed to varying degrees in order to meet the needs of the times.

Third, the dominant choices of the agencies we are working with focused on doing more than the law requires when it comes to outreach and transparency. Perhaps that is adverse selection at work given that they hired us. Boosted social media posts, sandwich boards, community workshops, op-ed placements and even direct calls to community-based organizations have been deployed to give a wide swath of California’s communities a chance to participate in the process.

Finally, this work has happened with a mix of agency staff, outside legal counsel, demographic consultants and sometimes, outreach firms like Tripepi Smith. This once-in-a-decade process is the perfect case study in how public agencies can partner with private sector organizations to surge resources and expertise when needed.

Redistricting is a mathematical, political, public policy, legal and logistical challenge. The outcomes won’t make everyone happy and the fact that some agencies even have districts will frustrate some communities, but local government delivered what was required and more. As it usually does.

Something good did happen in 2021.

Happy Holidays,