Census Numbers Require County Changes–Public Workshop on May 19

What Will it Mean for Us? New Boundaries Explored at May 19 Public Workshop

By Allen Krauter, Kern County administrative analyst

New Kern County Supervisors will be elected next year, and census results require that new district boundaries be drawn. What will it mean for the Mountain Communities? What are your ideas for new district lines? What is the law?

A public workshop will be held on Thursday, May 19 from 6-8 p.m. at the Frazier Mountain Park Community Center (300 Park Drive) in Frazier Park.

The census showed that Supervisor Watson’s District Four has about 30,000 more residents than other districts. State law requires equal population districts for federal, state, and local elections after every census, and the county administrative office is seeking public input on where district boundaries should fall.

Supervisors must approve new district boundaries by November 2011.

You can view and help draw potential supervisorial district maps for the 2012 elections.

The workshop Thursday will present an overview of the legal requirements for redistricting, current supervisorial district boundaries and populations. You’ll be able to look at proposed plans to rebalance district populations. Participants can then provide their redistricting suggestions.

The Board of Supervisors in each county will approve supervisorial district changes, in accord with the California Government Code.

Frazier Park is one of 20 communities where workshops will be held during May and June. In addition, the County will open a link on its website where the public can view proposed maps and read an overview of the redistricting process.

Following the workshops, the Kern County Administrative Office will bring a number of different plans to the Board of Supervisors for consideration.

This is part of the May 13, 2011 online edition of The Mountain Enterprise.

Have an opinion on this matter? We'd like to hear from you.