I am Maureen Cavanaugh, it is Tuesday, May 30. Our top story on Midday Edition, the effort to make district elections reality will be the focus of three North County cities today. Oceanside, Carlsbad and Vista all hold public meetings on drafting new city Council districts. After the new maps are grouped city Council members will be elected by voters in their district rather than in a citywide vote. The city of San Diego has elected its City Council members by distance since 1988 and by 2018 does a good chance of more than half of the cities in the county will be voting for the representatives that we. Joining us is a PBS North County be a reporter, Alison St John. Alison, welcome to the program. Led to be here, Maureen. Remind us if you would, what's prompting the move to get Oceanside, calls bed and Vista to switch to district elections. It is because they all three received letters from an attorney amount would basically named Kevin [Indiscernible] discovered discover the California voting rights act that went into effect in 2002 is a very effective legal pull to four cities basically that are not using district elections to move to a district election if there's evidence that those racially motivated voting. He has shown that minorities ratio minorities are voting in certain ways and are not getting elected to city councils so he said that window saying if they don't change to district elections within 90 days they will get sued. All three cities are under a great deal of pressure to go ahead and design this tubes within 90 days to avoid a lawsuit. So far how the maps any city taking shape? It is very interesting that three different cities, three different processes they seem to proceeding in different ways. In Vista they've already got 18 maps to consider tonight most of them drawn up by local residents who have taken an interest in this whole process. Some of the maps are drawn up by students at Cal State San Marcos for example example. It is very democratic process but very few people are actually involved in the process process. There are does almost 100,000 people in Vista. Just a handful really are showing up in Oceanside there's 170,000 people and only about 100 people have shown up about 40 people per hearing. Process that really will make a huge difference to the way that these cities a boat for the city councilmembers in the future is being pushed through at a very fast rate and they are doing their best to get public artist patient but so far it has been minimal. As you said the cities have just 90 days to draw the maps but generally speaking doesn't it take months if not years to get to the final version of the distant maps? That's right. If you look at how Chula Vista decided to go to district elections and Oklahoma, they both made that decision of the own volition and they took months if not more than a year with public meetings and a lot of input, a lot of discussion about -- before they decided on the district boundaries. In this case these three cities are perhaps a precursor of things to come if other cities received these letters threatening lawsuits whereby they really pretty much have to do it within the three months period. You've got to argue that even if disturbing is voting by district might be a good idea because it enables perhaps people to get elected with less money they would have to raise so much money in campaigning in order to stand a chance to get elected, that it is a challenge to get a democratic process and Gates is it a sort amount of time to draw up those district boundaries. Another reason people say that that district elections is a good idea, is because it gives in theory minority groups a better chance of being represented on the city Council. But I'm wondering how has the switch to district elections played out another North County cities like Escondido for instance? Yes, Maureen, and Escondido the actual to district elections already and they had one Latino member of the city Council all -- already on the Council and as result of the election the Council do not change. There were still one Latino on the Council but I think what we have to recognize is it takes a while for voters to wake up to the potential of district elections and for people who might run as candidates to wake up to the fact that it is actually easier to get on the ballot and to get the money to run under this new system at this one more point I would like to make which is the people who are showing up to these meetings to decide what the district boundaries should be are mostly not so much concerned about ethnic districts districts, ethnic communities interest. They have different views of interest based more perhaps on socioeconomic status, business, presence of business in the district. Other kinds of interest rather than ratio interest. If the changes are approved in these differing maps, one might they go into effect in each of the cities? Very rapidly. 2018 is the next time there will be a round of elections and so based on these maps all three of the cities will be electing two of there of but for City Council members by district of the next time around two years later it will be the other two. Should remind their mayors will still be elected citywide so that's why each city is being divided into four equal districts of equal numbers of residents. I've been speaking with KPBS North County there the reporter, Alison St John and Alison, thank you. Thank you, Maureen.
Residents of three North County cities will be poring over maps Tuesday.
By chance, Oceanside, Vista and Carlsbad are all holding public meetings about district maps Tuesday evening. All three have been threatened with expensive litigation if they do not switch to electing city council members by district, rather than by citywide elections.
To avoid being sued under the California Voting Rights Act, each city has just 90 days to map out new district boundary lines. Residents are being asked to come up with suggestions, based on communities with common interests. The four districts must each have the same number of residents.
Carlsbad is holding its first public meeting on district maps on Tuesday.
Vista holds its fifth, and attendees will have a total of 18 draft maps to consider. Some were drawn up by students at Cal State San Marcos. One resident has submitted eight draft maps.
Oceanside has held five meetings already and has produced two draft maps. At Tuesday night's meeting, the city hopes to narrow that down to one map, which would be published June 14. The city council expects to vote on the map in July and adopt it by August 1.
All three cities will elect two of their four council members using their new district maps in 2018. The mayors will continue to be elected at large.
In North County, Escondido and San Marcos have already made the change to district elections for their city council members. That leaves only Poway, Encinitas, Solana Beach and Del Mar voting for city council members citywide.
The other cities in San Diego County that already vote by district are the cities of San Diego, Chula Vista and El Cajon.
