Districting for Sierra Joint Community College District Board of Trustees

Districting for Sierra Joint Community College District Board of Trustees

Sierra Joint Community College District is governed by a Board of Trustees, consisting of seven members made up of community professionals, business officials, and leading citizens. They offer their time and talent to ensure that Sierra College remains responsive to local community needs as well as true to its mission, vision and core values.

The adopted final map was approved at the March 21, 2022 Board of Governors meeting and will be effective for the November 8, 2022 trustee election.

September 2021–March 2022 Redistricting Review

The Board of Trustees are currently elected under a Hybrid At-Large election system, where trustees reside in designated trustee areas, and are elected by voters of the entire district. Under the California Voting Rights Act (CVRA), at-large elections, including hybrid at-large, are impermissible if they result in racially polarized voting or cause disenfranchisement of voters from a protected class. The only election system that provides complete protection from a CVRA claim is a by-trustee area election system. While the District has not received a CVRA claim, and does not believe that racially polarized voting has occurred, the Board has determined it is in the best interest of the community to transition to by-trustee area elections. The Board believes that this transition will help to promote meaningful voter involvement in the election of board members, and increase the ability of candidates to seek elected office. This transition will also ensure compliance with the CVRA and avoid the possibility of defending costly litigation.

At the September 14, 2021 Board meeting, the Board approved a resolution to initiate the transition to a By-Trustee Area election system, where each Board member must reside within the designated trustee area boundary, and is elected only by voters in that trustee area. Voters would only vote for one seat on the Board.

Two public hearings were held at the September 14, 2021 and October 12, 2021 Board meetings to gather community input on the trustee area map creation process. The District’s demographers, the National Demographics Corporation, presented information on the process and criteria for drawing the trustee-area boundary maps. Draft map options were posted January 3, 2022. The first of two public hearings to review and receive public comments on the draft maps was held at the January 11, 2022 Board meeting. The second hearing was held at the February 8, 2022 Board meeting on the Rocklin Campus. The Board then adopted proposed map #5 and the election sequencing listed at the February 8, 2022 Board meeting. The adopted final map was submitted to the Board of Governors for approval at the March 21-22, 2002 meeting. The adopted final map was approved at the March 21, 2022 Board of Governors meeting and will be effective for the November 8, 2022 trustee election.

Following completion of the districting process, the District will be required to redistrict every ten years, beginning in 2031, based on new census data to ensure each trustee area is substantially equal in population such that each Trustee represents about the same number of constituents.

Timeline

The proposed timeline is subject to change.

  • September 14, 2021: Resolution of Intent and Initial Pre-Map Hearing #1
  • October 12, 2021: Initial Pre-Map Hearing #2
  • January 11, 2022: Draft Map Review Hearing #1
  • February 8, 2022: Draft Map Review Hearing #2; Public hearing before map adoption, and Adoption of Resolution No. 2022-04 entitled Resolution Initiating a Proposal to the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges for the Adoption of By-Trustee Area Elections
  • March 21, 2022: Board of Governors Approval
  • March/April, 2022: Send maps to County Registrar of Voters
  • July 6, 2022: Registrar’s deadline to implement the map
  • November 8, 2022: Election of trustees using newly adopted map

Trustee Area Maps

Simplified version of the 2022 Adopted Trustee Area Map
The illustration is a simplified version of the 2022 Adopted Trustee Area Map.

View enlarged version of simplified map.

Additional Information