Staff Report
Following a thorough process conducted through nine public meetings of the initial five commissioners, the remaining six of 11 seats on the County of Santa Barbara Citizens Independent Redistricting Commission have been filled.
The commission will be tasked with establishing county supervisorial district boundaries for the upcoming decade following receipt of the 2020 federal census data, currently scheduled to be released in late March or early April.
The commission selection process followed criteria of Measure G (County Code Section 2-10.9A) that was approved by voters in November 2018. Following a two-month application period in the summer of 2020, the County Elections Office established a pool of 45 candidates.
From that pool, one commissioner from each of the five supervisorial districts was randomly drawn by the district attorney. On Monday, Dec. 14, the initial five commissioners selected the final six additional members — one from each supervisorial district and one at-large member to complete the commission.
Those chosen, by district, are Laura Katz and Karen Twibell (First District); William McClintock and Megan Turley (Second District); Norman Bradley and James Hudley (Third District); Cary Gray and Lata Murti (Fourth District) and Glenn Morris and Jannet Rios (Fifth District). The Member at Large chosen was Benjamin Olmedo.
“The first task the commission faced was to fill out our membership,” said Interim Chair Glenn Morris. “We were very fortunate to have many qualified candidates from which to choose. We look forward to moving forward with our ultimate task to define district boundaries with a full team in place.”
The six commissioners were chosen based on relevant experience, analytical skills, and an ability to be impartial; and to ensure the commission reflects the county’s diversity, including racial, ethnic, geographic, age, gender and political party registration.
The Commission will begin meeting in January 2021 to review, discuss and deliberate on redistricting statutes, public outreach plans, and mapping tools for constituents to use during a series of public meetings that will be held in each district.
The public is encouraged to participate in the redistricting process that is expected to be completed by late summer or early fall 2021.
To sign up for updates and information and future public meetings, go to countyofsb.org/redistricting.sbc.
