Tulare County Redistricting Committee to Recommend Final Three Maps

July 22, 2011

Three draft maps that detail possible new Supervisorial district lines have been recommended for possible adoption by the Tulare County Board of Supervisors, the Tulare County Redistricting Committee announced.

The Redistricting Committee will present their final report and unveil the proposed maps at the July 26 Board of Supervisors meeting. The draft maps are available for comment and review online as well as during two Board of Supervisors public hearings, which will be scheduled and announced at a later date. 

Tulare County supervisorial district lines are reviewed and redrawn every 10 years based upon United States Census information. These district boundaries define the political representation on the Board of Supervisors. 

The Redistricting Committee received input from the public on sample maps during five outreach meetings, one in each Supervisorial district.  The committee took five scenarios to the public outreach meetings, and received five additional proposals from members of the public.  After the public outreach forums, the committee met four times to review the public comments and ultimately decided to recommend three scenarios to the Board of Supervisors for possible adoption.

At three separate public meetings in April and May, residents were asked to provide their input on what criteria should be used to draw Tulare County’s supervisorial lines. Criteria that were selected include: topography; geography; continuity and compactness; avoid dividing cities; and avoid dividing urban growth areas, among others.

“The Redistricting Committee is very pleased with the entire redistricting process, and we are confident we have presented three solid options to the Supervisors,” said Dick Eckhoff, Chairman of the Tulare County Redistricting Committee.  “We are especially thankful to the members of the public that participated in this important process.

The draft maps are available for review on the Tulare County Redistricting Committee's website at: http://co.tulare.ca.us/government/redistricting/maps.asp. Comments and suggestions can be submitted to the Board of Supervisors on the website, in writing or at any of the Board of Supervisors meetings.
 
All information regarding the redistricting process and meetings can be found at http://www.co.tulare.ca.us/government/redistricting/default.asp.