[0:42] i
[0:47] otherwise.
[0:50] Ok here we go.
[0:50] I
[0:52] m gonna call
[0:53] The meeting back to order. Can
[0:55] I have roll call again please.
[1:06] Yeah.
[1:08] Councilmember Woods here,
[1:10] Council Member Jones. I am here.
[1:11] Council member Copeland, he
[1:11] s
[1:12] here, he
[1:13] s just in the back
[1:15] still. Vice Mayor Honeycutt,
[1:16] Mayor Henson, I
[1:17] m here and
[1:18] everybody can please stand with
[1:19] me for the Pledge of Allegiance.
[1:26] I pledge allegiance to the flag
[1:27] of the United States of America
[1:29] and to the Republic for which
[1:33] it stands. One nation under GOD,
[1:34] indivisible with liberty and
[1:37] justice for all.
[1:38] Can I please have the closed
[1:39] session report? Yes, thank you,
[1:40] Mayor. There
[1:41] s no action to
[1:42] report this evening from closed
[1:43] session. Thank you. Is there
[1:45] any public business from the
[1:47] floor and any item for members
[1:49] that are here in person for any
[1:51] item that is not on the agenda.
[1:54] If so, please come forward.
[1:56] See, none, do we have any Zoom
[1:56] attendees who
[1:57] d like to make a
[2:01] comment? Oh.
[2:06] Hi, come on up, Pam.
[2:09] Thank you.
[2:11] For my slowness, but this is
[2:13] for our community foundation.
[2:15] This is like our gala that we
[2:17] used to have at night. We
[2:18] re
[2:20] having this this Sunday, and
[2:20] it
[2:21] s the 13th. It
[2:23] ll be from 2
[2:23] to 6 o
[2:24] clock, and it
[2:25] s at the
[2:28] sports basement, and we have
[2:29] Vegas Entertainment of Tom
[2:32] Jones. We have tickets prices
[2:37] starting at $20 to $100 and we
[2:40] have great silent auction.
[2:43] Secret baskets, so, um,
[2:43] everybody
[2:45] s invited and it
[2:45] s
[2:47] very close and there
[2:48] ll be food
[2:50] to purchase, and we have a bar.
[2:53] What else do we have?
[2:56] Oh yeah, ok, I, I MAY have
[2:59] forgotten a few things, but
[3:03] this is where the money that
[3:05] you donate to us comes back to
[3:07] your community, and we had uh
[3:10] do scholarships. We do seniors
[3:12] outreach, and we do holiday
[3:15] outreach and we do music in the
[3:16] parks. I forgot that the last
[3:19] time I did my thing. Thank you.
[3:21] Thank you, Pam. Any other
[3:22] public business from the floor
[3:23] for anybody that
[3:23] s in the
[3:25] audience.
[3:28] See, Nan, do we have any, um,
[3:28] Zoom attendees who would like
[3:31] to make a comment?
[3:32] No Zoom attendees. Thank you so
[3:34] much. Um, did I ask for the
[3:35] closed session report yet? I
[3:39] think I did. Ok, great. Um, uh,
[3:39] MADAM City Clerk, can you
[3:40] please tell us what is on our
[3:42] agenda tonight. Yes, tonight we
[3:44] have 4 presentations, 1 public
[3:45] hearing item and 2 items on our
[3:47] consent calendar.
[3:48] Ok, very good. Thank you. We
[3:49] ll
[3:49] go to presentations. We
[3:50] ll
[3:50] start with the mayor
[3:59] s minute.
[4:01] High Signal Hill, Mayor Tina
[4:02] Hanson here to bring you
[4:04] another segment of the mayor
[4:04] s
[4:06] Minute where share quick
[4:06] updates on what
[4:07] s happening
[4:08] around the city. I
[4:09] m here at
[4:12] our amazing Signal Hill Public
[4:15] Library SEPTEMBER is library
[4:16] card sign up month. Don
[4:16] t MISS
[4:18] Out. Grab your Signal Hill
[4:19] library card and let the
[4:21] excitement unfold. Plus
[4:23] throughout SEPTEMBER, all new
[4:24] patrons who sign up for a
[4:26] library card will receive a
[4:27] complimentary black bear diner
[4:29] cubs meal certificate for.
[4:30] A kids
[4:31] meal, seniors don
[4:31] t
[4:33] MISS Out on the great programs
[4:35] and resources available for you
[4:36] at the Signal Hill Public
[4:38] Library. If you haven
[4:38] t already,
[4:41] be sure to subscribe to the
[4:43] senior scoop newsletter, a
[4:46] monthly update with City News
[4:47] senior social club activities
[4:49] and the upcoming excursions,
[4:51] and they always sell out, so
[4:53] plan early. Subscribe on our
[4:55] city website or visit our
[4:57] friendly Parks, recreation, and
[4:59] library services staff if you
[4:59] need help.
[5:00] Signing up to get the
[5:02] newsletter and they are always
[5:03] happy to help you. I
[5:03] m excited
[5:05] to invite you to the mayor
[5:05] s
[5:08] fall cleanup event on Saturday,
[5:11] OCTOBER 3rd from 9 A.M. To 11
[5:11] a.M. We
[5:13] ll meet at Cress Park,
[5:17] which is located at 2451
[5:19] California Avenue. Check-in
[5:21] begins at 9:00 A.M. Followed by
[5:24] a brief orientation at 9:10
[5:25] A.M. We
[5:26] ll provide water, light
[5:28] snacks, trash bags, gloves, and
[5:29] grabbers.
[5:31] Just bring your energy and
[5:33] community spirit. We encourage
[5:34] youth to participate,
[5:36] especially if they need
[5:38] community service hours just
[5:39] remember, a signed waiver from
[5:41] a parent or a guardian is
[5:43] required for details, call the
[5:44] Community Development
[5:45] Department.
[5:48] Youth ages 17 and under who
[5:50] participate will be eligible to
[5:51] receive a free wristband to
[5:53] enjoy the Halloween carnival,
[5:55] which is quickly coming up on
[5:58] Saturday, OCTOBER 4th, 2026.
[5:59] Mark your calendars for
[6:00] Thursday, OCTOBER 1st. I
[6:01] m
[6:02] inviting you to join me at this
[6:03] year
[6:05] s State of the City, a
[6:07] time to celebrate our progress,
[6:08] share our achievements, and
[6:10] talk about the bright future
[6:12] that is ahead for Signal Hill.
[6:14] For more information, please
[6:15] email our park.
[6:17] Recreation and library services
[6:19] department. I look forward to
[6:20] seeing you at the State of the
[6:21] City until the next mayor
[6:21] s
[6:24] minute. Have a great day have a
[6:25] great start back to school if
[6:26] that
[6:26] s what you
[6:27] re doing and
[6:28] enjoy all the great things
[6:30] happening here in Signal Hill.
[6:30] And let
[6:31] s give Cindy a round of
[6:36] applause for her work on the.
[6:38] So that one was exceptionally
[6:40] long, I will say that. So, ok.
[6:42] Um, the next item is the
[6:43] Hispanic Heritage Month
[6:45] presentation, I believe our
[6:46] library staff will be coming up.
[7:06] Good evening, Honorable Mayor
[7:08] and members of the city council,
[7:10] uh, tonight we will share an
[7:13] overview of the upcoming
[7:16] programs or upcoming programs
[7:17] organized by the library in
[7:19] celebration of Hispanic
[7:20] Heritage Month. I will now turn
[7:22] over the mic over to our
[7:25] library specialist, Alicia Dana.
[7:30] Good evening, Honorable Mayor
[7:31] and members of the city council.
[7:35] In 1968, PRESIDENT Lyndon Bean
[7:37] Johnson officially established
[7:38] Hispanic Heritage Week,
[7:40] designating SEPTEMBER 15th to
[7:41] honor the independence
[7:43] anniversaries of Costa Rica, El
[7:46] Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras,
[7:47] Nicaragua, and Mexico. Two
[7:49] decades later, this
[7:50] presidential proclamation was
[7:51] revised to extend the
[7:53] observance from a week to a
[7:54] whole month. Hispanic Heritage
[7:56] Month brought in its focus to
[7:58] celebrate traditions, stories,
[7:59] and accomplishments of Hispanic
[8:04] and Latino Americans.
[8:06] Every Monday we offer Spanish
[8:08] story time, uh, program open to
[8:10] both native Spanish speakers
[8:11] and children interested in
[8:13] learning Spanish led by our
[8:14] bilingual library staff. This
[8:15] program features engaging
[8:17] stories, music, and crafts. On
[8:19] Tuesday evenings, we offer a
[8:21] high energy Zumba dance workout
[8:22] inspired by Latin music, space
[8:26] is available.
[8:27] To kick off our Hispanic
[8:28] Heritage Month celebration,
[8:30] families can join us for an
[8:31] evening of loteria, a
[8:33] traditional Mexican game of
[8:35] chance similar to bingo on
[8:37] Tuesday, SEPTEMBER 15th,
[8:38] participants will have the
[8:39] opportunity to win fun prizes
[8:41] and light refreshments will be
[8:41] provided.
[8:42] This program is one of the
[8:43] several programs this month
[8:44] that is generously sponsored by
[8:46] the Signal Hill Community
[8:50] Foundation.
[8:51] Then on Wednesday, SEPTEMBER
[8:53] 16th, stop at the Za courtyard
[8:55] for a first installment of
[8:57] Super Bowls. This program is
[8:58] designated to teach patrons how
[8:59] to make healthy meals. They
[8:59] re
[9:01] both filling and budget
[9:02] friendly. This month we are
[9:03] learning how to make sopa de
[9:08] fideo or Mexican noodle soup.
[9:09] On Monday, OCTOBER 2nd,
[9:11] Zaniniza will be joining us as
[9:13] a special guest for Spanish
[9:14] Story Time Magic Fiesta will
[9:15] dazzle children of all ages
[9:20] with wild tricks and illusions.
[9:21] Next, on Monday, OCTOBER 12th,
[9:22] the Museum of Latin American
[9:24] Art will return to the library
[9:26] for the 4th consecutive year to
[9:28] host an interactive and
[9:29] educational workshops suitable
[9:31] for all ages. Participants will
[9:32] explore various art styles
[9:34] popularized by modern Latin
[9:34] American artists and we
[9:35] ll have
[9:36] the opportunity to create their
[9:38] own artwork inspired by the
[9:41] featured artists.
[9:42] Right after the Mola workshop,
[9:44] we invite everyone to
[9:46] participate in music of ancient
[9:48] Mexico. Attendees will have the
[9:48] opportunity to learn about
[9:50] indigenous music styles and
[9:52] play handcrafted instruments
[9:53] alongside musician Martin
[9:53] Espino.
[9:55] We extend our gratitudes to the
[9:56] Signal Hill Community
[9:57] Foundation for sponsoring this
[9:58] program and for their support
[10:00] in our mission to provide a
[10:01] diverse range of cultural
[10:02] groups that promote lifelong
[10:05] learning.
[10:07] Finally, library patrons can
[10:09] explore a special curated
[10:10] booklist in our catalog. This
[10:12] list features a variety of
[10:13] fiction, nonfiction titles for
[10:15] children, teens and adults.
[10:17] Available in various formats in
[10:20] both English and Spanish.
[10:22] We hope to see you at our
[10:24] upcoming program celebrating
[10:25] Hispanic Heritage Month. Thank
[10:27] you for your time. I
[10:27] m
[10:28] available for questions. Great
[10:29] presentation, so many great
[10:30] activities. Do we have any
[10:31] questions from council?
[10:33] No.
[10:35] All right, thank you so much,
[10:40] yay.
[10:41] Nobody can say there isn
[10:41] t
[10:44] anything to do in our city,
[10:44] that
[10:45] s for sure. Um, the
[10:46] Rancho
[10:47] s Walk presentation.
[10:49] Good evening, Mayor and members
[10:50] of the city council. Next, I
[10:51] d
[10:52] like to introduce Larry Rich,
[10:55] who is the city of Long Beach
[10:57] sustainable sustainability
[10:58] manager to discuss the rancho
[10:59] s
[11:01] walk.
[11:02] Good evening Mayor Hanson and
[11:03] members of the city council
[11:04] city city council. Um, I
[11:04] m
[11:06] Larry with the City of Long
[11:07] Beach. Um, we
[11:09] re having our 8th,
[11:09] uh, Rancho
[11:12] s walk, which is a
[11:14] urban hike that goes from one
[11:17] rancho to the other, so the
[11:18] Rancho historic sites in Long
[11:19] Beach, the one in the northwest
[11:21] is Rancho Los Cerritos. This
[11:22] year the The walk will start
[11:24] there, and the other ranchos,
[11:27] Rancho Los Alamitos, uh, to the
[11:30] southeast, um, and this is a 9
[11:31] mile trail that.
[11:32] As much as possible to follow
[11:34] the high ground, the
[11:35] topographic high over the top
[11:38] of Signal Hill and and sort of
[11:41] like a crest trail. And so
[11:43] while the full trail is 9 miles,
[11:44] we have options for people to
[11:46] start at a 6 mile starting
[11:47] point, which is at Willow
[11:48] Springs Park, or a 3 mile
[11:51] starting point, which is
[11:52] Reservoir Hill near Redondo and
[11:54] pch. So the path, uh, goes
[11:57] through the city of Signal Hill,
[11:59] um, and in particular, uh,
[12:01] right by Hilltop Park.
[12:03] Where people have the option to
[12:06] pause and take in the views, uh,
[12:08] but many people just keep on
[12:10] walking, uh, because they got a
[12:13] ways to go yet. Um, we opened
[12:15] our registration so far we
[12:15] ve
[12:17] got just one weekend. We
[12:19] ve got
[12:22] 352 registrants last year we
[12:25] had about 550 participants
[12:26] starting at all three of those
[12:27] different locations. And this
[12:29] year, the, you know, the theme
[12:31] is, is history. The walk, um.
[12:33] People have the option of
[12:35] downloading an audio tour. So
[12:35] we
[12:38] ll be focused in on various
[12:40] aspects of history prompted by
[12:40] things that you see along the
[12:42] route.
[12:42] So that
[12:43] s it. If you have any
[12:45] questions for me. Um, are there,
[12:47] is there any like station at
[12:48] Hilltop Park for water or
[12:49] anything or is everybody just
[12:51] on their own for the walk, um,
[12:53] when it comes to Hilltop Park,
[12:53] they
[12:55] re on their own just in
[12:57] terms of having access to the
[12:59] existing drinking fountains and,
[13:01] and the bathroom facility there.
[13:03] We do provide porta potties and
[13:05] water stations at the two other
[13:07] intermediate locations. So at
[13:08] Willow Springs Park, those
[13:10] amenities are are set up and at
[13:11] Reservoir Hill as well. Ok, any
[13:12] other questions?
[13:15] Questions? No.
[13:17] All right, great, yes, right,
[13:18] yeah, great event. Thank you so
[13:20] much. Thank you.
[13:21] Um, street.
[13:23] Name, sign, presentation.
[13:24] Woo woo.
[13:26] Wot woot.
[13:34] Mm
[13:35] Good evening, Mayor and City
[13:36] council members. Tonight
[13:36] s
[13:38] presentation will go over an
[13:40] update on the street name sign
[13:43] project and design.
[13:45] Just as a quick recap, as it
[13:45] s
[13:46] been a busy construction season
[13:48] for us. Last year, the city
[13:50] prepared several designs with
[13:51] support from its on-call
[13:52] consultant. The goal was to
[13:55] develop 6 options for overhead
[13:56] mounted and post-mounted
[13:57] signage and whittle them down
[13:58] to the design that suits the
[14:00] city.
[14:01] There are two kinds of signage
[14:02] that would be replaced as part
[14:03] of this project. It
[14:04] s split
[14:06] between two phases, phase 1,
[14:08] phase 2, respectively. Phase
[14:09] one is the overhead mast arm
[14:10] signage on the left hand side
[14:12] and then phase two is all the
[14:14] local street post mounted
[14:14] signage, and what we
[14:15] re
[14:17] focusing on now is phase one.
[14:18] Ok
[14:20] We started with the 6 different
[14:21] designs and based on staff and
[14:22] council feedback, we opted to
[14:25] go forward with the layt of
[14:27] option c with the color scheme
[14:29] of option a for legibility.
[14:31] So option a is that upper left.
[14:33] Option c is at lower, was at
[14:36] lower right. The original
[14:38] concept for c had a base
[14:39] background with black lettering
[14:41] with the signal silhouette as
[14:42] part of the design. It
[14:42] s
[14:44] similar to the monuments,
[14:45] however, it was expressed that
[14:47] white lettering similar to
[14:48] concept a was preferred, and in
[14:50] order to maintain contrast, the
[14:51] teal background was
[14:53] subsequently added to that.
[14:56] Uh, signage. So here, excuse me,
[14:56] here
[14:59] s the revised concept c
[15:00] till background provides better
[15:01] contrast with the white
[15:02] lettering, which is better
[15:04] suited for illuminated signage.
[15:06] It also brings in the lighter
[15:08] blue um from option a, which is
[15:10] similar to the sky color from
[15:12] the city of Signal Hill seal.
[15:14] Circular seal.
[15:15] Here
[15:16] s kind of a neat rendering
[15:17] of our design just to give you
[15:18] a visual of what that might
[15:20] look like at night. Uh, it
[15:22] incorporates, um, use of the
[15:24] city teal color scheme in
[15:26] combination with the cursive
[15:28] city logo and integrates the
[15:29] hilltop silhouette into the
[15:31] background as mentioned, it has
[15:32] that updated white lettering,
[15:34] and we, uh we plan to share
[15:35] these samples and designs and
[15:37] would like to incorporate any
[15:39] comments and adjustments, uh,
[15:40] we would take those comments or
[15:42] any adjustments to a sign
[15:43] manufacturer and vendor to
[15:44] implement that into a final
[15:45] artwork and shop.
[15:46] Drawings.
[15:48] Uh, these sharp drawings would
[15:50] then be the basis of design for
[15:52] a final layouts for each street
[15:54] name sign, so each one will be
[15:55] slightly different, I guess in
[15:57] terms of spacing, but um
[15:59] overall the, the design will be
[16:01] essentially the same.
[16:03] Uh, some considerations that we
[16:04] need to make, uh, with the
[16:06] development of this project is
[16:07] the locations to be installed
[16:09] and just a general type of
[16:10] signage. So there
[16:11] s over 200
[16:12] intersections, 20 of these
[16:13] being signalized, 12 being
[16:15] shared intersections.
[16:17] And ultimately due to the
[16:18] design aesthetic and lighting
[16:19] improvements we have made in
[16:21] other areas of the city. Uh, we
[16:23] did prefer to specify the
[16:25] illuminated signage for the
[16:27] overhead at shared
[16:28] intersections after discussing
[16:30] with our team and our traffic
[16:30] engineer it
[16:31] s typically best to
[16:33] divide the agency signage at
[16:35] intersections by the boundary
[16:36] as best as possible, just for a
[16:38] few reasons, uh, such as better
[16:41] navigation for drivers, clear
[16:42] distinction for emergency
[16:43] response services and then
[16:44] clear boundaries when
[16:46] responding to and reporting.
[16:48] Accidents.
[16:50] So moving on to the budget and
[16:52] time frame for this update this
[16:54] project is funded via traffic
[16:55] impact fees which are generated
[16:56] through development here in the
[16:58] city. We have a signed budget
[17:01] of 617,000 for this project and
[17:03] to manage this rollout uh
[17:05] efficiently this project is, uh,
[17:06] as mentioned, split into two
[17:08] phases. Phase one is the isns.
[17:10] Phase 2 is a local signage, uh,
[17:12] regarding our schedule, we plan
[17:14] to release the material
[17:15] procurement for the rfp this
[17:17] month, and we expect to present
[17:17] contract awards.
[17:19] And the final artwork.
[17:22] Excuse me, in OCTOBER 2026.
[17:24] Once the shop drawings are
[17:26] approved, manufacturing for
[17:27] these overhead ISNSs is
[17:29] expected about 14 to 16 weeks
[17:31] and then finally overhead
[17:32] installations will be
[17:34] accomplished through a separate
[17:36] construction rfp factoring in
[17:37] the manufacturing timeline
[17:37] that
[17:39] s anticipated roughly in
[17:41] FEBRUARY 2027. The reason for
[17:43] that stratification is um just
[17:45] to try and avoid a markup, um,
[17:46] a lot of the signage comes with
[17:47] a markup if it
[17:48] s, if it
[17:48] s
[17:49] bundled together with a
[17:50] contractor, sometimes it could
[17:52] be as high as 10, 15%.
[17:55] So there could be some savings
[17:57] by stratifying it this way.
[17:59] So, um, this project is, you
[18:01] know, serves to have a cohesive
[18:03] standard for a city and also
[18:06] replaces worn and damaged
[18:07] signage contributes towards
[18:09] placemaking and just provides
[18:10] better visible navigational
[18:11] signage.
[18:12] Um, so with that, um, that
[18:14] concludes our presentation and
[18:14] I
[18:15] ll be happy to take note of
[18:17] any suggestions or questions
[18:18] that we can make, uh, to the
[18:20] signs at this time, my one
[18:21] question is.
[18:23] I assume the budget covers if
[18:25] we pick the most expensive sign.
[18:25] So that
[18:27] s like the highest end
[18:29] of the budget could go.
[18:32] Yeah, so, this, this covers
[18:35] basically, um, a, a variety of
[18:36] options. Um, there
[18:37] s a 6 ft
[18:39] design and then an 8 ft design,
[18:39] so it
[18:41] s the estimate is based
[18:42] on a combination of, of both.
[18:44] So the design is just based on
[18:45] the character length, so this
[18:47] one that you see here, uh, this
[18:49] is, uh, this is a 6 ft design,
[18:49] but there could be some other
[18:51] ones that are slightly longer,
[18:53] a little bit more expensive, so
[18:55] we kind of based it off the uh
[18:56] total character lengths.
[18:58] Here, do you have a question?
[19:00] Um, ok, so.
[19:01] I see blue, green, and white,
[19:03] right?
[19:07] Um, is that our Signal Hill?
[19:09] Blue-green is the hill, or is
[19:11] the sky a light version of our
[19:13] Signal Hill Blue.
[19:15] The sky is, is kind of meant to
[19:18] be more like the, the city seal
[19:20] like sky, um, and this, this
[19:22] steel is, is our Cigna health
[19:23] when you turn on the, that was
[19:26] what I was looking for. So it,
[19:26] it
[19:27] s very similar to the teal
[19:28] that you
[19:29] re showing in the uh.
[19:31] On the monument sign up in your
[19:32] slide.
[19:34] Yeah, this, this one, I, I
[19:36] think the, the coloring here is
[19:38] maybe slightly, uh, I think
[19:38] it
[19:40] s bn altered in the photos
[19:42] modified, but it, it
[19:42] s actually
[19:45] more of a teal color. Ok, yeah,
[19:46] ok, um, so it
[19:47] s consistent with
[19:49] our other signage coloring that
[19:50] we do throughout the city. So
[19:52] then my other question is, is
[19:55] that, um, are there.
[19:57] Color contrast requirements
[19:59] from the Department of
[20:01] Transportation to, you know,
[20:02] for instance, does there have
[20:03] to be enough difference between
[20:05] the foreground color and the
[20:06] background color for people
[20:08] that are visually impaired, and
[20:09] does this meet those
[20:10] requirements? Yes, uh, so
[20:11] generally you have to be able
[20:13] to see it from a visibility of
[20:15] about 300 ft, um, so that
[20:16] s,
[20:16] that
[20:18] s pretty much the only
[20:19] limitation that there is um
[20:21] there is some um limitations on
[20:23] on certain types of fonts like
[20:23] you can
[20:25] t use like uh.
[20:26] Certain types of serif fonts
[20:28] and things like that, but other
[20:29] than that, it
[20:30] s just visibility
[20:33] from a distance and uh and it
[20:33] s
[20:34] some specific restrictions, so
[20:35] we
[20:35] re, we
[20:36] re all in the good
[20:38] with this now with the font and
[20:40] the colors and yeah. Ok, great.
[20:41] It looks amazing. I think we
[20:44] need to take a photo with it.
[20:44] Thank you. Now we
[20:45] re at the end.
[20:47] Well, whenever.
[20:48] Anyone else want to take a
[20:50] photo with the new signs, yeah,
[20:52] and, and, and these will be on
[20:55] all of our residential streets.
[20:55] Yes, yes, so it
[20:56] s pretty
[20:56] exciting. It
[20:57] ll definitely when
[21:00] you drive into Signal Hill,
[21:00] you
[21:01] ll clearly know you
[21:01] re in
[21:03] Signal Hill, which, uh, it will
[21:05] really differentiate us from
[21:06] our neighboring cities sign
[21:08] combinations.
[21:09] Any more questions for staff?
[21:11] So are we picking a design?
[21:11] What are we doing tonight? What
[21:12] do you need from us tonight?
[21:13] He
[21:15] s just given us an update.
[21:15] It
[21:16] s an update and if there
[21:16] s
[21:18] anything, you know, any, um, I
[21:20] guess, uh, adjustments that you
[21:21] see as far as coloring like I
[21:22] mean I heard a, you know,
[21:24] comment to make sure the
[21:25] coloring was, was matching what
[21:27] our other signage is, so we
[21:27] ll
[21:28] make sure, but yeah, this is,
[21:30] this is essentially that color.
[21:32] When, when did this, because i
[21:33] remember seeing designs. I
[21:34] remember discussing this and
[21:35] talking about coloring. So when
[21:37] was that? When did this last
[21:38] come to council? This was
[21:39] roughly last summer.
[21:41] I want to say last summer, ok,
[21:42] yeah, I remember.
[21:44] Uh, we, we narrowed it down
[21:46] then from several different
[21:48] options. Ok.
[21:50] Gambino.
[21:52] Like to just add um so
[21:54] essentially this this sign is,
[21:55] is we wanted to showcase it
[21:56] really. It
[21:57] s roughly 95% of the
[21:59] way there, there are gonna be
[22:01] some, some slight adjustments,
[22:03] um, so as far as the coloring,
[22:04] uh, it does look a little
[22:06] pastelly we believe that the
[22:08] that the contractor or the
[22:09] vendor really can get the
[22:10] colors a little dialed in.
[22:12] Um, there are some borders that
[22:13] are going to be added.
[22:14] Um, to the sign itself, and
[22:15] we
[22:16] re going to be fixing to the
[22:18] contour of the of the actual
[22:21] hill, um, so come in OCTOBER
[22:21] when we
[22:22] re ready to award,
[22:22] we
[22:23] re gonna be providing the
[22:26] council with a submittal that
[22:27] shows what the sign will look
[22:29] like at the end, um, really
[22:30] today was, was just to show
[22:33] what the what a retroreflective
[22:34] sign looks like what this sign
[22:36] looks like uh lit up and then
[22:37] also to get any sort of
[22:38] feedback that the council MAY
[22:39] have.
[22:41] And all the street signs,
[22:42] residential street signs, will
[22:43] also have an illumination to
[22:43] them, right? They won
[22:45] t be lit,
[22:45] but they
[22:47] ll be reflective. Yes,
[22:47] they
[22:48] ll be retroreflective,
[22:50] correct.
[22:52] Any other questions or comments?
[22:55] All right thank you so much
[22:56] good job yay, round of applause.
[22:59] Yay.
[23:00] Council say after for a quick
[23:02] picture. Sure, ok.
[23:02] Cindy, we
[23:03] re going to take a
[23:04] picture afterwards with the
[23:07] council, ok? Thank you. Um, we
[23:08] have one public hearing tonight,
[23:10] um, just to kind of let the
[23:11] audience know how the public
[23:12] hearing will go. Um, first,
[23:13] we
[23:14] ll have a staff report. Then
[23:16] council has an opportunity to
[23:17] ask any questions after the
[23:18] staff report, uh, then we
[23:19] ll
[23:20] open up the public hearing for
[23:23] those that are in the, uh,
[23:23] public, you
[23:25] ll have 3 minutes
[23:26] to make your comments or ask
[23:27] any questions. If they
[23:27] re
[23:29] questions that can be answered
[23:29] tonight, we
[23:31] ll ask staff to
[23:33] answer those, um, and.
[23:34] Then once, and then we
[23:34] ll also
[23:36] open it up to any Zoom
[23:38] participants that want to make
[23:40] any comment after everybody has
[23:41] made their public comments.
[23:41] I
[23:44] ll come back to counsel for
[23:47] any discussion and or emotion.
[23:49] Um, so we will start with our
[23:50] staff report.
[23:51] Good evening again, Mayor and
[23:53] members of the city council. So,
[23:56] um, as, as you know, uh, the
[23:58] city has initiated the
[23:59] districting process pursuant to
[24:00] a letter that we received
[24:03] earlier this summer. Um, we had
[24:05] a community workshop, uh, last
[24:08] week, uh, which was led by DR.
[24:09] Justin Levitt to provide the
[24:11] community with information
[24:13] regarding the California Voting
[24:15] Rights Act, uh, additional
[24:16] information regarding
[24:18] districting and the mapmaking
[24:20] pro uh process, um, we had
[24:20] about 22.
[24:22] Attendees at that workshop, and
[24:24] this is the follow up to that
[24:25] community outreach we
[24:25] re going
[24:27] to have a total of 4 public
[24:29] hearings. This is the first of
[24:30] 4 public hearings as indicated
[24:32] in our agenda report, we We
[24:33] have two public hearings that
[24:35] do not have maps, and then we
[24:36] have two public hearings, the
[24:39] 3rd and 4th public hearing that
[24:40] have maps. The maps are then
[24:42] adopted by the city council via
[24:44] ordinance at the 4th public
[24:46] hearing. This is the initial
[24:47] part of this process. So what
[24:48] we
[24:49] re going to do this evening
[24:50] is have.
[24:52] Doctor Levitt provide an
[24:53] overview presentation and as
[24:55] the mayor indicated, provide an
[24:57] opportunity for feedback and
[24:58] discussion and answer as many
[24:59] questions as we can regarding
[25:01] the process. So without further
[25:02] ado, uh, Doctor Lovitt, one
[25:04] more question, Carlo, and when
[25:06] do we anticipate the 4th
[25:07] meeting being? The 4th meeting
[25:09] would be the 2nd meeting in
[25:10] OCTOBER.
[25:13] Ok, so basically every meeting
[25:15] between now 2 in SEPTEMBER 2 in
[25:17] October, and then by the end of
[25:17] OCTOBER we
[25:18] ll have chosen a map
[25:20] and moving forward, correct? Ok,
[25:21] thank you.
[25:23] Thank you, uh, Mayor Hanson,
[25:25] members of the community, and,
[25:27] um, members of, uh, the council
[25:28] who are here tonight. Uh, my
[25:30] name is Doctor Justin Levitt
[25:31] with National Demographics, and
[25:33] it is a pleasure to be here.
[25:35] Um, just to kind of take a step
[25:37] back and explain what is going
[25:39] on. The state of California
[25:41] allows cities to elect in
[25:42] different ways. Uh,
[25:43] traditionally, the vast
[25:47] majority of cities used abi or
[25:48] sorry, not large system of
[25:49] elections that means that all
[25:51] residents of the city could
[25:52] elect all members of the
[25:54] council, members of the council
[25:56] could reside anywhere within
[25:58] city limits. Um, there
[25:59] additionally was a from
[26:00] district system, a couple of
[26:02] cities, Newport Beach and
[26:04] Downey, um, I see at the end.
[26:07] Use the system where they had
[26:08] districts where council members
[26:10] must reside, but elections were
[26:11] held among all the residents of
[26:13] the city. These were called
[26:16] from district systems.
[26:18] A third system that cities
[26:19] including Long Beach use as a
[26:20] bi-district system. This is
[26:22] similar to how we elect members
[26:24] to Congress or the state
[26:26] legislature where the where a
[26:27] city would be divided into city
[26:29] council districts. Each
[26:30] district would have a
[26:31] representative and only the
[26:32] voters within that district
[26:34] would elect that representative.
[26:38] For the 1st 150 years of
[26:38] California
[26:39] s existence, most
[26:41] cities use this at-large system
[26:43] of elections. However, in 2002,
[26:44] the California Voting Rights
[26:47] Act was written and one of the
[26:49] provisions in the California
[26:52] Voting Rights Act was to create
[26:54] litigation or potential
[26:57] litigation to require cities to
[26:58] change their method of election
[27:01] in order to give protected
[27:02] class communities the
[27:03] opportunity to elect candidates
[27:05] of their choice. This law was.
[27:07] To encourage cities to switch
[27:10] to by district elections in
[27:11] particular by giving
[27:12] by-district election cities a
[27:13] safe harbor. They would be
[27:15] protected from future
[27:16] litigation under the California
[27:18] Voting Rights Act if they used
[27:20] a bi-district method of
[27:20] election.
[27:22] And so we have seen if we go to
[27:25] the next slide over the last 15
[27:27] to 20 years, the tidal wave
[27:29] across the state of California
[27:31] of cities, school districts,
[27:35] and other special districts
[27:37] switching from at large to by
[27:38] district elections.
[27:42] So for example, we now see over
[27:44] 217 cities, including 3 that
[27:46] are currently undergoing this
[27:47] transition to district election,
[27:48] um, in addition, we
[27:49] ve seen
[27:51] over 300 school districts and
[27:53] 46 community college districts
[27:55] as well as nearly 80 other
[27:56] special districts including
[27:58] health care districts and
[27:59] airport management districts,
[28:00] port management districts, and
[28:01] so on.
[28:02] They
[28:03] ve also affected every
[28:04] corner of the state from the
[28:06] city of Eureka up in Northern
[28:08] California all the way to the
[28:09] Imperial Valley irrigation and
[28:11] Water District down in Imperial
[28:12] County on the border.
[28:14] Um, in addition, the legal
[28:16] picture for cities that have
[28:18] tried to challenge the
[28:20] California Voting Rights Act
[28:21] has been mostly a history of
[28:23] losses in the court at the
[28:25] courts. Uh, so far, 4 cities
[28:26] have challenged the California
[28:29] Voting Rights Act on the merits.
[28:32] All four have received negative
[28:34] judgments, um, all for the
[28:35] district court level, um, 2 of
[28:37] them, cities of Huntington
[28:39] Beach and Pasadena are
[28:40] currently in litigation, um,
[28:42] Pasadena went all the way up to,
[28:42] or sorry, not past.
[28:45] You know, um, Santa Monica went
[28:47] all the way up to the state
[28:48] Supreme Court, um, the state
[28:50] Supreme Court has sent that
[28:52] down for future action and
[28:54] discussion at the lower court
[28:55] level and the city of
[28:56] Huntington Beach was actually
[28:58] in the middle of deciding
[29:00] whether to appeal when we got a
[29:01] new Supreme Court decision in
[29:03] JULY, or sorry, JUNE, that sort
[29:04] of changed the picture on a lot
[29:05] of this that we
[29:05] ll talk about
[29:07] as we go through the
[29:09] presentation, um, but currently
[29:09] they
[29:10] re deciding whether or not
[29:11] to appeal, and if so on what
[29:13] grounds?
[29:16] Um, now what the state has done
[29:18] is created this opportunity for
[29:20] cities to not admit liability
[29:22] under the California Voting
[29:24] Rights Act, but to make the
[29:26] change in response to a demand
[29:29] letter, um, in order to protect
[29:30] or preserve their right in the
[29:33] future to choose their own maps
[29:35] as well as potentially make
[29:36] future changes depending on how
[29:38] the legal picture changes in
[29:39] the future.
[29:39] And so that
[29:40] s what the city is
[29:42] doing, um, not admitting
[29:44] liability under the California
[29:45] Voting Rights Act. There
[29:45] s been
[29:47] no actual lawsuit, just a
[29:48] demand letter, but making this
[29:51] change in order to comply with
[29:53] the law, um, in addition that
[29:55] will put the city into the safe
[29:57] harbor under the current
[29:58] California Voting Rights Act.
[30:01] Um, if we look at this process
[30:02] that we know we talked a little
[30:04] bit about it. The timing of
[30:07] this process is really set up
[30:08] by that demand letter process
[30:10] that we talked about before.
[30:12] In response to a demand letter,
[30:14] city has 45 days to decide
[30:15] whether or not to make the
[30:15] change.
[30:17] And if they decide to make the
[30:20] change, they have another safe
[30:22] window of 90 days where they
[30:24] are protected against other
[30:26] litigation or other plaintiffs
[30:28] potentially coming in, or a
[30:29] full lawsuit being filed
[30:30] against the city. Our schedule
[30:32] is designed to stay within that
[30:33] range.
[30:36] So this is why we have so many
[30:38] public hearings kind of
[30:40] compressed into a SEPTEMBER and
[30:41] OCTOBER in order to make sure
[30:44] we stay within our safe window.
[30:46] This does mean that we have our
[30:47] two public hearings in
[30:48] SEPTEMBER where we don
[30:49] t have
[30:51] any draft maps drawn that we
[30:51] re,
[30:51] we
[30:52] re, you know, this includes
[30:53] the workshop that we actually
[30:54] held last week where we started
[30:56] our first look at public
[30:57] comment and feedback on
[30:58] neighborhoods and communities
[30:59] of interest.
[31:01] And we also invite members of
[31:02] the community to submit their
[31:04] own maps which we have
[31:04] available. I
[31:05] ll talk about the
[31:06] tools at the end of the
[31:08] presentation.
[31:09] After which we
[31:10] ll release the
[31:12] draft maps in early OCTOBER and
[31:14] have two public hearings to
[31:15] discuss and revise the draft
[31:16] maps.
[31:17] At that 4th public hearing, the
[31:18] council will make that
[31:20] selection, and then on NOVEMBER
[31:21] 10th we have our second reading
[31:24] and final adoption.
[31:25] That those the the 4th and 5th
[31:27] public hearing have to be done
[31:28] at a regular city council
[31:30] meeting.
[31:31] Um, after the 3rd public
[31:33] hearing, just to kind of make
[31:33] sure it
[31:36] s clear there will be
[31:37] another opportunity for new
[31:39] maps to be submitted or revised
[31:40] maps to be drawn by the
[31:41] community.
[31:43] We have a full calendar
[31:44] including all of those
[31:47] deadlines and dates at
[31:49] Drawsignalhill.Org, the city
[31:49] s
[31:50] districting website.
[31:52] We go to the next slide.
[31:54] Um, to talk through briefly the
[31:57] rules and goals of
[31:58] redistricting. The California
[31:59] Voting Rights Act doesn
[32:00] t
[32:02] itself have any redistricting
[32:05] criteria, but the Fair Maps Act
[32:07] of 2024 requires that we use a
[32:09] specific set listed here.
[32:11] And with the Fair Maps Act
[32:13] divides them into three
[32:15] categories federal laws on our
[32:16] left-hand side come from the
[32:18] Supreme Court, and they apply
[32:19] to all cities, counties, and
[32:21] states that have district
[32:21] elections.
[32:24] First and foremost is equal
[32:25] population. This is the one
[32:28] person, one vote principle. We
[32:30] use our latest census, the 2020
[32:32] census, to get our total
[32:34] population count, so that does
[32:36] include everyone, including
[32:37] children, including
[32:38] non-citizens, everyone counted
[32:41] as part of that 2020 total
[32:41] population count.
[32:42] And that
[32:43] s the number that gets
[32:44] divided by the number of
[32:45] districts.
[32:46] Now they
[32:46] re recognized you
[32:46] can
[32:49] t get down to 0. Perfect
[32:51] equality.
[32:52] Without breaking neighborhoods
[32:54] and communities, and so they
[32:57] allow a deviation or difference
[32:59] from perfect equality of up to
[33:00] 10%.
[33:01] That means the difference
[33:03] between the populations of the
[33:04] largest and smallest districts
[33:06] has to stay under that 10%
[33:08] limit.
[33:10] Second is our federal Voting
[33:12] Rights Act requirement. This is
[33:13] where we see that court case,
[33:15] the Calais decision in JUNE,
[33:16] has the most impact, you know,
[33:19] before JUNE I could give you a
[33:21] very specific detailed analysis
[33:22] of what this meant, but right
[33:23] now we
[33:24] re still in that process
[33:25] of trying to determine what the
[33:27] Supreme Court meant in the
[33:28] Calais decision.
[33:30] A lot of the decision concerned
[33:32] partisanship, which we are
[33:34] actually banned by the state of
[33:35] California from considering in
[33:36] our process.
[33:37] And so what I
[33:38] ll give you is
[33:39] kind of the standard idea of
[33:41] what the Voting Rights Act
[33:43] requires is that race and
[33:45] ethnicity is not the primary
[33:47] consideration in the behind a
[33:49] district or um a a geographic,
[33:51] uh, you know, constituency.
[33:54] At most it can be one of many
[33:56] criteria that you consider in
[33:57] drawing a district, but it
[33:59] cannot be the primary or only
[34:01] consideration in its creation.
[34:03] Instead, the law is always
[34:06] required, even before Calais,
[34:08] that we focus on communities of
[34:11] interest. Those other features,
[34:12] um, which could include
[34:14] everything from income and
[34:17] class to education, uh, to
[34:19] history and neighborhood, uh,
[34:20] that bring people together in
[34:22] different ways.
[34:25] Um, so the pro, the, the
[34:27] decision did not overturn any
[34:28] prohibitions on racial
[34:30] gerrymandering that already
[34:31] existed, it actually
[34:32] strengthened them to some
[34:33] degree, and that
[34:33] s the degree
[34:36] being worked out by the courts.
[34:37] Um.
[34:40] In the middle column are
[34:42] California criteria um in
[34:44] prioritized order from the Fair
[34:46] Maps Act, must be looked at in
[34:49] this order. First is contiguity,
[34:50] contiguity is the principle
[34:51] that all parts of the district
[34:53] must touch or there might be
[34:55] one outside border of the
[34:56] district.
[34:57] This means that we can
[34:57] t jump
[34:59] over a county island or a
[35:00] portion of the city of Long
[35:02] Beach to connect areas.
[35:03] It also means we can
[35:03] t just
[35:05] pick random census blocks from
[35:06] different parts of the city and
[35:08] called it a district. All the
[35:10] parts must have a common
[35:11] outside border.
[35:13] Below that we have our division
[35:14] of neighborhoods and avoiding
[35:16] division of neighborhoods and
[35:18] communities of interest if we
[35:19] identify a certain area as a
[35:20] neighborhood or community of
[35:21] interest, we should strive to
[35:23] keep it together.
[35:25] The law recognizes that you MAY
[35:27] not be able to because of
[35:28] population, but to the extent
[35:28] we can, it
[35:29] s something we
[35:31] should look to do.
[35:34] Um, 3rd, easily identifiable
[35:35] boundaries. This is the
[35:36] principle that districts should
[35:38] be easy for voters to
[35:39] understand. So to the extent we
[35:41] can use major roads rather than
[35:42] jogging through neighborhoods,
[35:44] we should strive to do that.
[35:46] Uh, we can also use natural
[35:48] features or other natural
[35:49] breaks to create those
[35:51] boundaries as well.
[35:52] And lastly, compactness, which
[35:54] the law defines as not
[35:55] bypassing one neighborhood to
[35:57] get to another group of people.
[35:59] Um, this is really aimed at the
[36:01] hooks and fingers, kind of odd
[36:03] looking divisions that seem
[36:03] like they
[36:05] re designed to get a
[36:07] particular block or area out of
[36:09] or into a particular district.
[36:11] I note they are rank ordered.
[36:13] So if that border is because
[36:13] that
[36:14] s where the neighborhood
[36:16] or community boundary is like a
[36:17] homeowners association along a
[36:19] cliffside, for example, we
[36:21] would follow that border.
[36:23] First, before we worry about
[36:24] compactness.
[36:26] Oftentimes what this comes down
[36:27] to is, does the boundary make
[36:29] sense to the residents that
[36:30] live in the city, even if it
[36:32] looks a little strange if we
[36:34] can kind of understand from the
[36:34] residents
[36:36] perspective why they
[36:37] would why that boundary makes
[36:39] sense. We can draw it without
[36:41] violating compactness.
[36:42] Now, there also is that
[36:44] prohibition at the beginning of
[36:45] the 3rd column, that districts
[36:48] should not be drawn with
[36:49] consideration of partisanship
[36:52] data, incumbency or potential
[36:53] candidate information and so to
[36:56] the extent that we have or any
[36:57] information on that is
[36:57] available. It
[36:58] s not included in
[37:00] any of the data sets. It won
[37:00] t
[37:02] be used as part of our analysis
[37:03] of the maps either.
[37:05] And then finally we have our
[37:06] other traditional districting
[37:07] principles.
[37:09] The fair Maps Act includes
[37:11] everything in that 1st 2.5
[37:13] columns, but there are other
[37:14] principles that courts have
[37:17] allowed over the years, such as
[37:18] consideration of potential
[37:19] future developments.
[37:20] Um, they
[37:21] ve done this with a
[37:22] knowledge and under the
[37:23] knowledge that you have to
[37:24] comply with all of the
[37:26] requirements first.
[37:28] But if we have two really good
[37:30] maps that do equally good job,
[37:32] but one divides our new housing
[37:34] equally between two districts,
[37:35] and one of them puts it all in
[37:38] one district, giving them
[37:40] potentially higher deviation
[37:43] later on, that could be a final
[37:44] consideration in selecting
[37:46] between two good maps.
[37:48] So we want to make sure we
[37:49] justify it according to
[37:50] everything else first, but if
[37:52] we have two really good maps,
[37:54] we can kind of use other
[37:56] factors as the tiebreakers.
[37:58] As long as we
[37:59] re in compliance.
[38:00] If we go to the next slide,
[38:02] looking at our demographic
[38:04] summary, um, our total
[38:06] population, according to the
[38:10] 2020 census was 11,911
[38:11] residents.
[38:13] This is actually the adjusted
[38:15] count, the state adjusts for
[38:17] the um for the last known
[38:18] location of incarcerated
[38:19] individuals, and so it
[38:20] s a
[38:21] little bit higher than the real
[38:22] raw census number.
[38:23] Um, it
[38:24] s the number that the
[38:26] state requires us to use.
[38:28] And you can see here we can
[38:30] divide this number into 4 to
[38:33] get a population of 4 districts
[38:34] or the population of 5
[38:36] districts, the difference being
[38:37] in a four-district system you
[38:39] would have a citywide elected
[38:40] mayor.
[38:42] The state allows every city to
[38:43] make that choice between having
[38:46] an elected mayor or a rotating
[38:47] mayor, more like the current
[38:49] system.
[38:51] In addition to that total
[38:52] population, I won
[38:52] t go through
[38:53] this whole spreadsheet. I
[38:55] invite you to look at our
[38:57] website. Uh, we want to point
[38:59] out the variety of data that we
[39:00] really use. We use election
[39:02] voting data, turnout and
[39:04] registration from these the
[39:05] statewide database of election
[39:08] and voting, we use the American
[39:10] Community Survey data to get
[39:11] demographic information about
[39:13] age, income, education, renters
[39:14] and owners.
[39:18] Um, a lot of this is gathered
[39:20] at a fairly small area, areas
[39:23] of about 1000 to 110 to 1500
[39:24] residents.
[39:25] And so even a city of small as
[39:28] Signal Hill has many census
[39:30] block groups that we get this
[39:31] American community survey data
[39:32] from.
[39:34] Um, I also like to say here
[39:35] that demographic data doesn
[39:35] t
[39:36] tell the whole story of a
[39:38] neighborhood or community. It
[39:38] s
[39:39] no substitute for your local
[39:40] knowledge.
[39:40] It
[39:42] s one of many factors that
[39:45] we can use to look at and
[39:47] justify where we find those
[39:48] community boundaries. Uh,
[39:50] sometimes, one factor or mold
[39:52] combination of factors helps us
[39:54] to define what that community
[39:55] is.
[39:58] And that really brings us to
[40:00] the heart of the question,
[40:01] which is this question of
[40:02] defining neighborhoods and
[40:04] communities of interest.
[40:05] I like to define neighborhoods
[40:06] as kind of the smallest
[40:08] building blocks that go into a
[40:09] district. It
[40:10] s almost like the
[40:12] individual Lego brick pieces
[40:13] that create the whole.
[40:14] Item
[40:16] And the reason is, is because
[40:18] these are sort of indivisible
[40:20] areas, a single apartment
[40:22] complex or condominium complex,
[40:23] a tract of homes that was built
[40:25] by a single developer in a
[40:28] particular time and place, a
[40:29] historic district or an
[40:31] economic impact zone. There
[40:31] s
[40:32] many different terms and
[40:34] concepts all around the state,
[40:36] but these are the smallest
[40:38] building blocks that are really
[40:39] geographically defined,
[40:41] oftentimes by roads or by
[40:43] streets, um, sometimes by
[40:45] location or proximity to a
[40:45] particular.
[40:47] School site or intersection, um,
[40:48] and we know what these are
[40:50] because they often have names,
[40:51] the Oak Grove apartment complex,
[40:53] for example.
[40:55] And the way we come up with
[40:56] communities of interest if we
[40:58] go to the next slide is by
[41:00] building these individual
[41:02] blocks together to form our
[41:03] districts.
[41:04] Communities of interest are
[41:06] something that we often see a
[41:07] lot of discussion about, and
[41:07] it
[41:08] s why we
[41:09] re going to have
[41:10] lots of different maps to look
[41:11] at when we get to that stage of
[41:13] the process.
[41:15] Essentially a community of
[41:17] interest is a group of people
[41:19] that have a common interest in
[41:23] a policy, in an issue, in a way
[41:24] of life. Uh, there
[41:25] s lots of
[41:27] different ways of defining it.
[41:29] I personally like the idea of
[41:30] shared problems. People who
[41:33] face a common set of problems
[41:34] that need representation,
[41:36] particularly at the city level.
[41:38] And this could be everything
[41:41] from those areas impacted by it.
[41:42] Willow
[41:44] You know, areas along major
[41:46] commercial corridor. It could
[41:48] be areas impacted by hillside
[41:50] erosion. It could be simply
[41:52] areas that are geographically
[41:54] not as connected to physically
[41:56] to the rest of the city, like
[41:58] the areas north of the 405
[41:59] freeway.
[42:02] And all of those could be
[42:03] potential communities of
[42:04] interest.
[42:05] And every city you go to,
[42:05] they
[42:06] re going to put pieces
[42:08] together differently. And so
[42:09] our goal as part of this
[42:11] process to figure out how to
[42:12] best do this in the city of
[42:13] Signal Hill. This is why we
[42:14] re
[42:16] going to get lots of maps and
[42:16] why we
[42:17] re going to have
[42:19] discussion about which one does
[42:21] the best job at representing
[42:23] our communities of interest.
[42:23] Uh, I
[42:25] ll give you some examples
[42:27] here. We have our zoning map.
[42:29] We have American Community
[42:31] Survey data, um, a lot of these
[42:33] maps we have available online
[42:35] on the city
[42:36] s districting
[42:37] website if there is something
[42:37] that
[42:38] s not there that you want
[42:40] to see or think needs to be
[42:41] there, let us know. Reach out
[42:43] to us, and we can look into
[42:44] getting it. I know we
[42:44] ve had a
[42:47] couple of requests from our
[42:48] first workshop to look at, for
[42:50] example, where future projects
[42:52] are going to be cited. Um, and
[42:52] so that
[42:52] s something we
[42:53] re
[42:53] working with the.
[42:56] City to look into.
[42:56] Um, the other thing I
[42:57] ll
[42:59] mention we got at the last
[43:00] meeting was information from
[43:03] the the um historic Society
[43:04] about where the historic
[43:05] districts of the city are.
[43:07] Um, in addition to these, we,
[43:10] as I mentioned, we have a great
[43:12] website, drawsignalhill.Org
[43:13] where we have a lot of these
[43:15] mapping tools and information
[43:16] available on that website, we
[43:18] also have our draw your own map
[43:20] tools, and we have several
[43:22] different tools for your level
[43:23] of engagement and how much time
[43:25] and energy you want to put into
[43:26] it.
[43:27] Uh, we offer everything from,
[43:30] if we go to the next slide, a
[43:32] simple map review tool where
[43:33] eventually we
[43:34] ll be able to see
[43:35] all the different maps and
[43:38] overlay them on our census data.
[43:39] Already you can go to the
[43:40] interactive review map and view
[43:42] the maps of the census data
[43:44] like I showed you earlier. Uh,
[43:46] we have everything from
[43:48] household income to education,
[43:50] housing, um, already on there.
[43:51] And like I said, we can add
[43:52] more if needed.
[43:54] In addition, for those who want
[43:56] to just show us where your
[43:58] communities are. We offer blank
[43:59] maps that just show the streets
[44:02] and roads, where you can color
[44:03] in your neighborhood or
[44:04] community.
[44:06] And describe to us what it is
[44:08] either on the backside of the
[44:09] handout which we have in the
[44:11] back if you want to turn it in,
[44:12] or take a picture of it and
[44:13] write us an email, send it to
[44:15] our email address.
[44:17] Um, if you want a little bit
[44:19] more on that same packet,
[44:19] you
[44:21] ll see we have a map with
[44:23] numbers that show you the total
[44:25] population of about 50
[44:27] different areas across the city.
[44:29] Simply add those together to
[44:30] get the number that
[44:31] s that, you
[44:32] know, our target number for a 4
[44:35] or 5 district maps and tell us
[44:36] what that works and doesn
[44:37] t
[44:38] work about that particular
[44:39] district.
[44:41] This is all, this map is also
[44:42] great for just estimating how
[44:44] many people live north of
[44:45] Willow. Well, you can look at
[44:47] this map and get a very quick
[44:48] number.
[44:51] In addition, we have our full
[44:51] online Dave
[44:52] s redistricting
[44:54] mapping tool. This lets you go
[44:56] block by block at our workshop,
[44:57] we just did a demo where we
[44:59] spent about 10-15 minutes
[45:00] walking through this.
[45:01] For those of you who missed
[45:03] that, we have videos, a 4
[45:04] minute introductory video and a
[45:07] 20 minute step by step video on
[45:08] the website on how to use the
[45:09] tool.
[45:11] Um, and this tool really lets
[45:13] you see the same data sets, the
[45:16] same detail that we have as
[45:18] demographers to go and draw
[45:20] your own map. Now any map you
[45:21] draw, um, we won
[45:22] t see it until
[45:23] you send it to us, and that
[45:23] s
[45:24] for your own protection, so we
[45:24] won
[45:25] t see your drafts, we won
[45:25] t
[45:28] see your, you know, unfinished
[45:29] maps.
[45:30] Um, but once you
[45:30] re ready, you
[45:32] can send, you can basically
[45:35] share your url, copy the url
[45:37] and send it to us.
[45:40] Um, and so what this public
[45:41] hearing is about tonight. We
[45:41] re
[45:43] hoping to answer any questions.
[45:43] There
[45:44] s no action that the
[45:45] council needs to take on this
[45:46] item, but we
[45:47] re hoping that
[45:50] everybody leaves here with an
[45:51] understanding of the process,
[45:51] or at least I
[45:53] m ready to ask
[45:54] questions in 2 weeks when we
[45:55] come back for our 2nd public
[45:56] hearing.
[45:58] And if we just go to that last
[45:59] slide, um.
[46:00] We have our
[46:02] I guess
[46:04] ok, um.
[46:06] I thought we had a slide with
[46:09] our um url on it, but uh.
[46:12] Just, um, we have our draw
[46:14] Signalhill.Org, um, and we have
[46:16] our contact information on that
[46:17] website as well.
[46:18] Um,
[46:18] And if it
[46:19] s not in the pdf, I
[46:20] will make sure that we put it
[46:23] in that, um, when we post it,
[46:28] uh, tonight as well.
[46:30] Um, that link is available on
[46:33] the city website.
[46:35] Um, so thank you very much for
[46:35] your time and I
[46:36] m happy to
[46:37] answer any questions you have.
[46:38] Thank you. I
[46:38] ll start with
[46:41] Robert, and then Keir, Larry,
[46:43] very, yeah, very easy question
[46:44] really just about the process.
[46:45] So if someone, when someone
[46:47] sends you a map, how do they
[46:50] know that you received the map?
[46:52] So, um, we asked the people, do
[46:55] you send the maps to the email
[46:58] address on Drawsignalhill.Org
[46:58] and we
[47:00] ll, I will, or either I
[47:01] or the city will respond to
[47:03] every email that we receive
[47:04] that you got it. Ok, perfect.
[47:04] That
[47:04] s all. That
[47:05] s the only
[47:06] question I have if it is a map
[47:09] or a or even a neighborhood
[47:10] will also provide you with the
[47:13] number like map 101, map 401,
[47:14] whatever it is, so that they
[47:16] can identify it in their
[47:17] comments. Ok, perfect. Thank
[47:19] you. Here. And then all those
[47:20] maps come.
[47:23] To the 3rd public hearing. Yes,
[47:25] so every map, every community,
[47:27] every neighborhood, um, will be
[47:28] presented at the 3rd public
[47:30] hearing with the communities we
[47:31] often just will put a lot of
[47:33] the communities on one map so
[47:35] we can show you all of the
[47:36] neighborhoods people have
[47:36] identified, but you
[47:37] ll be able
[47:38] to go to the interactive review
[47:39] map and see them each
[47:40] individually.
[47:41] And then for every full map
[47:43] proposal, even if it doesn
[47:43] t
[47:45] meet all the requirements
[47:47] anyone will show you everything
[47:47] that we
[47:48] ve received. Ok, thank
[47:50] you, Charlie.
[47:52] Um,
[47:54] If people are concerned about
[47:56] privacy or the.
[47:57] When they submit a map, is it,
[48:00] um,
[48:01] Anonymous is it submitted
[48:03] anonymously or how does that,
[48:06] so, uh, we do ask for um
[48:08] someone to submit, um, to
[48:12] provide a name and email, um,
[48:14] that is predominantly for us to
[48:15] be able to reach out to them to
[48:16] let them know we
[48:16] ve received
[48:18] the map and if there
[48:19] s any
[48:20] issues, for example, go to the
[48:21] url, can
[48:22] t find the map. Um, we
[48:24] want to be able to reach out to
[48:26] that person if they don
[48:26] t want
[48:27] their contact information or
[48:29] details known, they can let us
[48:29] know in the.
[48:30] Email and we can work with the
[48:32] city on that, ok. And then a
[48:34] question for staff.
[48:37] Well, the library computers be
[48:38] able to if if somebody doesn
[48:39] t
[48:41] have a computer or needs access
[48:42] to a better computer, are they
[48:43] able to access this at the
[48:45] library.
[48:46] Laurie.
[48:49] Really
[48:49] I don
[48:50] t have any clarifying
[48:51] questions at this time. Um, I
[48:54] have a few. Um, I just wanted
[48:56] to clarify, um, so when you
[48:56] re
[48:58] looking at the percentage, the
[49:00] number of individuals in each
[49:03] district, is it just straight
[49:05] number or voting population, so
[49:07] the law requires we balance the
[49:10] total population, so everybody,
[49:12] um, now that does mean that we
[49:14] might have some differences in
[49:15] the voting population from
[49:17] district to district our
[49:18] spreadsheets will give you the
[49:19] number of registered voters.
[49:22] And the number of turnout in
[49:24] 2024 in each district, so
[49:24] you
[49:25] ll be able to see that and
[49:27] how it differs, but it also
[49:28] means that some districts are
[49:31] going to, by definition, have
[49:32] to be larger because there
[49:32] s a
[49:35] lot of empty space, for example,
[49:37] and to get to within 10% of all
[49:38] the other districts, you
[49:39] ll
[49:41] just require a larger space,
[49:43] yeah, so some, some districts
[49:45] MAY be geographically bigger.
[49:47] Ok. Just because of the way pot
[49:48] that Signal Hill is developed.
[49:49] Ok.
[49:51] And, and actually because it
[49:52] has zero population, that
[49:52] s one
[49:53] thing we might look at is how
[49:55] do we divide some of those
[49:56] commercial areas so that
[49:57] they
[49:59] re not all in one district.
[50:01] Ok, um, and I
[50:01] m just
[50:03] reiterating, you said that each
[50:06] district has to have 10%, be
[50:09] within 10% of each other
[50:09] district and we
[50:10] re anticipating
[50:12] we know for example what we
[50:13] have in the pipeline now and
[50:15] that has to be part of the
[50:16] consideration as far as housing
[50:18] development, so yeah, the idea
[50:19] with that is that for
[50:21] example, um, if we knew we had
[50:23] some or we think we might have
[50:24] some development coming up over
[50:27] the next few years. We could
[50:29] underpopulate within that 10%
[50:32] total deviation. The area that
[50:34] has that future population
[50:35] growth, um, and to make sure
[50:38] that it has some room to grow.
[50:40] And where would we, where would
[50:41] that information be available
[50:42] to explain why we
[50:43] re
[50:44] underpopulating at a certain
[50:45] district, so, um.
[50:48] The best way to do that is to,
[50:50] when is when someone submits a
[50:53] map that they put that into
[50:54] their discussion of what they
[50:55] are trying to accomplish with
[50:57] that district or with that map.
[50:59] But if we as a council, let
[50:59] s
[51:01] say, we as a council developed,
[51:03] you know,aid we like this map
[51:05] we know this is under, but we
[51:06] anticipate there
[51:08] s going to be,
[51:10] um, you know, increased, um,
[51:11] residential here, does that go
[51:12] into the findings? Like where
[51:14] does that go? So in the future
[51:15] somebody could understand why
[51:17] we did that, yeah, um, so in
[51:17] that if it
[51:18] s a member of the
[51:19] council who
[51:19] s talking about it
[51:20] would hope they
[51:21] d make that
[51:23] comment in in public and then
[51:25] then what I would do is as part
[51:26] of the write up of the map,
[51:27] because after we adopt a.
[51:30] We have to do a write-up of, um,
[51:31] how it complies with the law.
[51:32] We
[51:32] ll put that in there as sort
[51:35] of the one of the issues or
[51:36] thing, not, not issues, that
[51:36] s
[51:38] the wrong word, things that we
[51:40] were trying to accomplish, yeah,
[51:41] factors in the creation of that
[51:43] district. Now what happens if
[51:45] in 20 years there
[51:45] s a large
[51:47] housing development that we
[51:47] can
[51:48] t even anticipate now that
[51:50] throws off the numbers. Are we
[51:51] good or do we have to
[51:52] redistrict? That
[51:52] s a great
[51:54] question. Um, so the districts
[51:57] will be used in the 2028
[51:58] election for the first time.
[51:59] And then again in 2030 we
[52:00] ll
[52:01] have our other districts, the
[52:01] ones that didn
[52:02] t have their
[52:04] first election in 28, will have
[52:06] their first election in 2030.
[52:09] In 2031, with the new 2030
[52:11] census, the city will have to
[52:14] at least look at the current
[52:16] lines and decide whether or not
[52:18] it needs to be redistricted
[52:19] based on that population and
[52:21] other factors. And then how
[52:22] often do they have to do that
[52:24] after that? Every 10 years, the
[52:26] year following the census. Ok,
[52:26] um, it
[52:27] d be the same time that
[52:30] the state and the city of Long
[52:31] Beach and the school district
[52:33] and all the other jurisdictions,
[52:33] they
[52:34] ll all be doing that
[52:35] redistricting, more or less
[52:36] than.
[52:37] The same 9 months. And then you
[52:39] said according to federal law,
[52:40] one thing the council can
[52:41] t
[52:42] consider as a primary
[52:43] consideration is that we want
[52:45] to create a district that has a,
[52:47] a, a higher population of a
[52:49] certain ethnic group so I think
[52:51] that from the current, the way
[52:53] the law currently looks, you
[52:55] know, you, you, you know, we
[52:57] would avoid saying like this
[53:00] district is designed to elect a
[53:02] member of a particular ethnic
[53:02] group, ok, and that
[53:03] s based on
[53:04] federal law. That
[53:04] s federal,
[53:05] yeah, under the Calais decision.
[53:08] And previous Supreme Court
[53:10] decisions, um, and then my last
[53:10] question, and there MAY be
[53:13] other questions, is, is there
[53:15] any, after public comment, is
[53:17] there ever a moment where
[53:19] suggested maps are provided to
[53:21] us, um, from your company or
[53:23] another company for us to look
[53:24] at. Yes, that
[53:24] s a great
[53:27] question. At the 3rd public
[53:29] hearing, in addition to
[53:30] whatever community maps we
[53:30] ve
[53:32] received, there will be no
[53:34] fewer than 3 consultant drawn
[53:36] maps in addition to those.
[53:38] Community maps. Ok, um, and
[53:38] they
[53:41] re trying to illustrate
[53:43] different ideas and I can
[53:43] t
[53:45] tell you how many times we have,
[53:46] you know, several maps, maybe
[53:47] up to 10 maps at that 3rd
[53:48] public hearing, and it
[53:49] s not
[53:50] the consultant map that gets
[53:50] chosen. It
[53:51] s the community map,
[53:53] but at least having the
[53:54] different options will show the
[53:56] council what some of the
[53:57] trade-offs or options are.
[54:00] ok, thank you. Any other
[54:02] questions from anybody? I do.
[54:05] So um, so at that hearing with
[54:07] all the community submitted
[54:07] maps.
[54:09] You, you will go through to
[54:11] validate the criteria is met,
[54:12] so the maps will still get
[54:13] presented, but you
[54:14] ll say.
[54:15] But this one
[54:17] s missing this.
[54:19] Yes, ok, and is that when the
[54:21] consultant maps then maybe they
[54:22] incorporate those ideas end up
[54:23] getting utilized. It
[54:23] s because
[54:25] they have all the criteria.
[54:27] Absolutely, um, just this
[54:28] spring I was working with a
[54:30] client where that happened
[54:31] happen, where the public map
[54:32] where where the public where
[54:34] map where was the deviation was
[54:36] too high. It it was a 15%
[54:37] deviation, but I saw what they
[54:40] were trying to do, and I gave
[54:42] the council two options of how
[54:43] to make it work.
[54:44] And that was, those were two of
[54:47] my maps that I drew, based on
[54:49] the community map that we had
[54:50] gotten, and one of those maps
[54:52] ended up being the one the
[54:53] community actually ended up
[54:54] rallying around because they
[54:55] were like, we couldn
[54:55] t figure
[54:57] out how to make it work.
[54:58] Um, but every, you know, uh,
[54:59] and so what we
[54:59] ll see, we
[55:00] ll
[55:01] see what we get but you
[55:01] ll have
[55:03] at least 4 to 5 maps to choose
[55:04] from at that third public
[55:05] hearing to show you what the
[55:07] different options are.
[55:08] If we get a lot of maps, we
[55:09] ll
[55:11] group them by similar features.
[55:12] So you won
[55:13] t be overwhelmed. I,
[55:13] oh, go, I
[55:14] m sorry, go ahead and,
[55:16] and then, uh, Mayor Hansen
[55:18] asked about when we were
[55:19] required to redistrict when,
[55:20] when.
[55:22] Could we
[55:23] Voluntarily redistrict if there
[55:24] was some other criteria that
[55:28] came up, and then, um, if the
[55:30] Supreme Court case.
[55:31] Continues.
[55:33] Could we end up rersing this
[55:35] whole district process, so
[55:36] every 10 years you
[55:37] ll have an
[55:39] opportunity to revisit the map,
[55:40] uh, whether or not you, you
[55:41] know, that
[55:42] ll, I think
[55:43] currently state law requires a
[55:47] minimum of a 2 to 3 public
[55:48] hearings to discuss whether or
[55:50] not the map map as it map
[55:51] currently is is legal, and if
[55:53] not, what changes can be made
[55:55] to it. Um, you also have a 9
[55:57] month process to do it, so it
[55:57] won
[55:59] t all be crammed into a
[56:01] particular one, you know, one
[56:01] month.
[56:02] Period.
[56:06] Um, I, the law really strongly
[56:07] discourages districting more
[56:09] than once per decade. I think
[56:10] the idea is that you do it once
[56:11] per decade at the year ending
[56:12] in one.
[56:14] Um, once you have districts in
[56:15] place.
[56:17] Um, in addition, on the, on the
[56:20] third point, the, you know, we,
[56:20] we
[56:22] re just in such a legal
[56:23] issue, a gray area right now.
[56:24] The state
[56:25] s actually in the
[56:27] process of working on new
[56:29] legislation to react to the
[56:31] Calais decision that could
[56:32] change this California Voting
[56:34] Rights Act itself as well. Um,
[56:35] I know there
[56:36] s some legislation
[56:36] on the governor
[56:37] s desk right
[56:39] now relating to that and more
[56:41] coming down the pipeline before
[56:42] the end of the legislative
[56:44] session, um, so I
[56:44] m happy to
[56:45] give a more.
[56:47] Longer response at some point,
[56:49] but I think the takeaway is,
[56:49] it
[56:50] s a gray area right now.
[56:53] And, and so at that point we
[56:54] would come back to this if
[56:56] something changed at the state
[56:57] or federal level, or we would
[56:58] just we
[57:02] d be set until 2031. So,
[57:04] so historically maps have been
[57:05] grandfathered in by the old
[57:07] laws. So for example, the Fair
[57:11] Maps Act took effect in 2024.
[57:13] Cities that redistricted in
[57:14] 2021 didn
[57:15] t have to redraw
[57:16] their maps.
[57:18] The, you, they can continue to
[57:21] use their maps till 2031, and
[57:22] then they have to evaluate
[57:23] whether or not their maps work
[57:26] under the new criteria.
[57:28] The old criteria were basically,
[57:28] they weren
[57:29] t rank ordered. It
[57:31] was up to the council and the
[57:33] community to decide the
[57:35] balancing factors of compact
[57:37] contiguity, compactness, and so
[57:39] on. Um, when the legislature
[57:39] did that, it didn
[57:40] t mean that
[57:43] every city had to redraw.
[57:45] Ok, thank you.
[57:46] I honestly don
[57:47] t remember if
[57:48] you covered this, and I
[57:50] apologize because it was a
[57:51] really great presentation but
[57:53] so much information, but did
[57:55] you cover that two options that
[57:57] cities have are 5 disc, well, I
[57:58] mean, it could be more than 5,
[58:01] but 5 districts or 4 districts
[58:02] plus a directly elected mayor.
[58:04] So I did mention it, um, I
[58:04] didn
[58:06] t spend a lot of time on
[58:08] it, but um we do have both
[58:10] options available at this point,
[58:11] and all of our tools are set up
[58:14] to allow users to draw either a
[58:17] 4 district or a 5-district.
[58:19] At what point would you want
[58:20] direction from council, you
[58:23] know, we want to do 5 districts
[58:24] or we want to do 4 on
[58:27] electorate and, and, and a
[58:29] directly elected mayor to help
[58:31] you draw the maps. So, um, that,
[58:33] that of course will ultimately
[58:35] be up to the council um if at
[58:38] the 2nd public hearing in 2
[58:39] weeks, we have some direction
[58:41] on that. Um, we could come back
[58:44] with 3 or 4 options that are
[58:46] just for just 5. Ok. It also
[58:46] provides some.
[58:48] Guidance to those community
[58:50] maps that we receive. Ok, um,
[58:51] however, I, I, you know, it,
[58:52] it
[58:53] s up to the council to make
[58:56] that call. But if the council
[58:58] at the next hearing has this
[58:59] specific discussion about, we
[59:01] want to go one way or the other
[59:02] way, then you could tailor the
[59:05] maps based on that direction.
[59:06] Absolutely. Ok. Any more
[59:07] questions?
[59:09] All right, thank you so much.
[59:10] Thank you. With that, I
[59:10] m going
[59:11] to open the public hearing.
[59:13] Each speaker will have 3
[59:16] minutes. You can talk about.
[59:16] You like it, don
[59:17] t like it, you
[59:19] can ask questions. You can talk
[59:21] about specifics of maps is
[59:22] absolutely your choice. Do we
[59:24] have any speaker cards by any
[59:26] chance? Can I ask I ask a quick
[59:28] go back? Of course.
[59:28] This doesn
[59:29] t affect the
[59:30] treasurer and the city clerk.
[59:31] Not at all. Ok. They
[59:31] re still
[59:33] at large. Thank you.
[59:34] Ok.
[59:36] So I opened the public hearing.
[59:37] If anybody would like to speak,
[59:39] please come forward.
[59:40] Go ahead. Ok.
[59:43] Thank you.
[59:44] Thank you, I
[59:45] m Sonia civilian.
[59:47] Uh, first I want to thank the,
[59:48] the city council, the city
[59:49] staff, and Justin Levitt for
[59:50] all the work that they
[59:50] ve done.
[59:52] I know this is quite a project
[59:53] and so I appreciate all, all
[59:54] the effort that
[59:55] s gone into it.
[59:56] Uh, I want to speak
[59:57] specifically to the point that
[59:59] you just raised in terms of the
[1:00:03] 5 districts versus 4 districts,
[1:00:05] um, and hold on, I lost my
[1:00:11] notes here, uh, to adopt. So my
[1:00:13] argument is to have the urge
[1:00:14] the council to adopt a.
[1:00:16] 5 single-member district with
[1:00:17] continued voting mayor,
[1:00:19] rotating mayor rather than 4
[1:00:20] districts and a separately
[1:00:23] elected mayor, so districting
[1:00:25] districting exists to expand
[1:00:27] who holds power in this city,
[1:00:28] particularly for communities
[1:00:30] that have never had a voice on
[1:00:32] this council, a rotating mayor
[1:00:33] is the structure that allows
[1:00:35] that expansion to actually
[1:00:36] reach the city
[1:00:37] s most visible
[1:00:39] leadership role if the mayor is
[1:00:41] instead chosen through a
[1:00:42] separate election incumbency
[1:00:43] will quickly become the
[1:00:45] dominant factor.
[1:00:47] Incumbents carry name
[1:00:48] recognition, fundraising
[1:00:49] networks, institutional
[1:00:50] advantages that are difficult
[1:00:51] for first-time candidate to
[1:00:54] overcome. Over time, that
[1:00:56] dynamic risks concentrating the
[1:00:56] mayor
[1:00:57] s office in the hands of
[1:00:59] whichever community already has
[1:01:01] the resources and visibility to
[1:01:03] win citywide elections that
[1:01:04] same the same pattern which led
[1:01:06] to this districting process in
[1:01:08] the first place. So a rotating
[1:01:11] mayor avoids that risk entirely
[1:01:12] because the position passes
[1:01:14] amongst all 5 district.
[1:01:15] Representatives, the city
[1:01:15] s
[1:01:17] leading role will in time
[1:01:19] reflect the diversity that this
[1:01:20] districting process is designed
[1:01:22] to bring, so I, when the time
[1:01:24] comes, I urge the council to
[1:01:25] adopt a 5 district map and
[1:01:27] preserve the rotating mirror
[1:01:27] system. Thank you. Thank you,
[1:01:29] Sonia.
[1:01:30] Next speaker, if anybody else
[1:01:31] would like to speak, please
[1:01:46] come forward.
[1:01:48] Good evening, Mayor and members
[1:01:50] of the city council. My name is
[1:01:50] Mary Gonzalez. I
[1:01:51] m a resident
[1:01:53] of Signal Hill and a retired
[1:01:55] public interest attorney. I
[1:01:55] m
[1:01:58] here to address the underlying
[1:02:01] resolution that led to this
[1:02:02] process. I
[1:02:03] m fully committed to
[1:02:04] the established legal processes
[1:02:06] of transition transitioning,
[1:02:07] however, as a resident, I
[1:02:08] m
[1:02:10] deeply offended by the
[1:02:11] council
[1:02:13] s underlying premise in
[1:02:15] this resolution which dismisses
[1:02:16] a vital civil rights matter as
[1:02:18] a mere financial.
[1:02:20] Inconvenience, the resolution
[1:02:21] states that this is that the
[1:02:23] city is not aware of any
[1:02:25] evidence of the California
[1:02:26] Voting rights violation,
[1:02:27] although I know we
[1:02:27] re already
[1:02:29] going forward with the process,
[1:02:29] let
[1:02:31] s look at the actual facts
[1:02:32] in the 100 year history of
[1:02:35] Signal Hill, not a single
[1:02:37] Latino candidate has ever been
[1:02:40] elected in a majority Latino
[1:02:42] city in a city rich with
[1:02:43] demographic diversity, that is
[1:02:45] not an accident. It is
[1:02:47] statistical and structural.
[1:02:49] Exclusion, it also trickles
[1:02:50] down to the city
[1:02:52] s appointments
[1:02:53] process, priorities, and
[1:02:56] neighborhood issues. Our
[1:02:56] current at-large Our current
[1:02:57] at-large system Our current
[1:02:58] at-large Our current at-large
[1:02:59] system allows a single
[1:03:00] concentrated voting block to
[1:03:02] dictate policy for an entire an
[1:03:04] entire city, which is why I
[1:03:04] appreciate Sonia
[1:03:05] s comments,
[1:03:07] pretending this is a baseless
[1:03:10] threat, ignores the Southwest
[1:03:11] voter registration Education
[1:03:14] Project is a solid, venerable
[1:03:16] civil rights organization whose
[1:03:18] legendary founder Willie.
[1:03:20] Velasquez coin coined the
[1:03:23] defining phrase suvoto es suvos,
[1:03:25] your voice is your vote. I mean,
[1:03:27] your vote is your voice, which
[1:03:30] resonates throughout our Latino
[1:03:31] communities since creating
[1:03:32] districts is a done deal, the
[1:03:34] city should stop complaining
[1:03:36] about the process and recognize
[1:03:36] and
[1:03:39] Um,
[1:03:41] The need for the necessary
[1:03:42] change.
[1:03:42] Let
[1:03:45] s be clear about the legal
[1:03:46] reality and in these voting
[1:03:48] rights cases, cities that chose
[1:03:49] to fight single member
[1:03:51] districts in and court lose
[1:03:54] 100% of the time.
[1:03:56] Furthermore, Section 3a of your
[1:03:59] resolution legally commits the
[1:04:03] city to robust public outreach
[1:04:05] explicitly naming non-English
[1:04:07] speaking communities, yet the
[1:04:08] outreach so far has been
[1:04:10] virtually invisible.
[1:04:11] Merely announcing a meeting
[1:04:13] during a city council broadcast
[1:04:15] and posting on the city website
[1:04:17] is passive compliance, not true
[1:04:18] engagement. If we want a city
[1:04:20] where your vote is truly your
[1:04:21] voice, the city must actively
[1:04:22] invite the community to the
[1:04:25] table, not hide the process in
[1:04:26] bureaucratic corners. This
[1:04:28] transition should not be framed
[1:04:30] as a costly burden. It must be
[1:04:32] embraced as a long overdue
[1:04:34] civil rights correction. I urge
[1:04:36] this counsel to execute
[1:04:38] transparent, aggressive,
[1:04:40] multilingual outreach ensure.
[1:04:43] District maps are drawn fairly
[1:04:44] without protecting incumbents
[1:04:46] and finally give every
[1:04:48] neighborhood a dedicated voice
[1:05:01] at the table.
[1:05:03] Carlo, is there a resolution
[1:05:04] that
[1:05:05] s associated with our
[1:05:07] Item tonight, yes, Mayor and
[1:05:08] council, those are resolution
[1:05:11] of intent that was brought
[1:05:12] forth brought previously
[1:05:13] brought to the city council to
[1:05:14] initiate the process.
[1:05:21] Great. Next speaker, please.
[1:05:22] See none, I
[1:05:23] ll bring it back.
[1:05:24] Do we have to throw out a
[1:05:26] couple of questions in case the
[1:05:27] speakers want to contribute
[1:05:30] more or you got enough? No, ok,
[1:05:31] all right. Um, I mean, they
[1:05:32] were already, they were placed
[1:05:34] up there. So as part of the
[1:05:36] presentation. All right, um, do
[1:05:38] we have any Zoom participants
[1:05:38] who
[1:05:39] d like to be heard.
[1:05:42] There are no Zoom participants.
[1:05:43] Ok, with that, I will close the
[1:05:45] public hearing and bring it
[1:05:48] back to council for comment or
[1:05:49] discussion or.
[1:05:50] Move forward. I don
[1:05:50] t think
[1:05:50] there
[1:05:52] s any action item that
[1:05:53] s
[1:05:54] required tonight, correct,
[1:05:54] Carlo?
[1:05:56] This is the first of two public
[1:05:57] hearings. This was to hear what
[1:06:00] are our community had to say,
[1:06:02] um, any discussion or questions
[1:06:03] from council.
[1:06:07] So how are we advertising this?
[1:06:08] So we
[1:06:09] ve been advertising the,
[1:06:10] we started with the community
[1:06:11] meeting and that
[1:06:11] s been
[1:06:13] advertised on our social media
[1:06:15] channels. Uh, we have the
[1:06:17] advertisement in English and in
[1:06:19] Spanish, um, and we are, um,
[1:06:19] we
[1:06:20] re gonna continue to, to
[1:06:22] press that effort on our
[1:06:23] website and and through our
[1:06:25] social media in, in multiple
[1:06:26] languages as I mentioned.
[1:06:28] Mhm
[1:06:30] Any other questions?
[1:06:32] No questions. I just um, you
[1:06:34] know, for me, my perspective
[1:06:36] coming into tonight was to use
[1:06:38] this as a listening session to
[1:06:39] get the comments, uh, from the
[1:06:40] public. So I appreciate the
[1:06:43] speakers coming up and sharing
[1:06:44] their thoughts, um, other than
[1:06:44] that, that
[1:06:45] s all I have.
[1:06:47] Any other comments or questions?
[1:06:49] So we have nothing to receive
[1:06:50] in files. We just close the
[1:06:51] public hearing and move on.
[1:06:53] Correct, yes. Ok, great. Thank
[1:06:56] you. All right, uh, we will
[1:06:59] move on to the consent calendar,
[1:07:00] I believe. Would anybody from
[1:07:01] council like to pull anything
[1:07:03] from the consent calendar?
[1:07:03] No.
[1:07:05] Uh, is there any member of the
[1:07:06] public that would like to pull
[1:07:07] anything from the consent
[1:07:09] calendar?
[1:07:10] I seen none can have a motion
[1:07:11] as to the consent calendar.
[1:07:12] Move it.
[1:07:15] Can I have a second?
[1:07:16] 2nd 2nd, uh, all in favor,
[1:07:19] please say aye. Aye aye. Any
[1:07:20] opposed? The motion carries.
[1:07:21] I
[1:07:22] ll go to a council member,
[1:07:24] new business, a council member
[1:07:26] Woods. Um, I have no new
[1:07:28] business Council Member Jones,
[1:07:30] uh, just a reminder, SEPTEMBER
[1:07:31] 13th, this Sunday. Pam, what
[1:07:34] time does it start?
[1:07:37] 2. The band goes on at 2, doors
[1:07:42] open at 1, for Vegas and Velvet,
[1:07:42] it
[1:07:44] s gonna be a fabulous event,
[1:07:46] uh, obviously Pam, Doritza and
[1:07:47] I are going to be there. Many
[1:07:49] of you will be there. Um, it
[1:07:51] should be a great time. Uh,
[1:07:52] please come join us and help
[1:07:54] support the Signal Hill
[1:07:56] Community Foundation and all
[1:07:58] their efforts uh to support
[1:07:59] Signal Hill.
[1:08:03] Tickets are available where?
[1:08:04] And the banner that Pam
[1:08:04] s
[1:08:07] holding, but if you go to the
[1:08:08] Signal Hill Community
[1:08:10] Foundation, uh, social media or
[1:08:11] website at I love
[1:08:12] Signalhill.Org. There
[1:08:12] s
[1:08:13] additional information to
[1:08:14] connect you to the event.
[1:08:15] Thank you.
[1:08:18] COUNCILMAN Copeland.
[1:08:20] Vice Mayor Honey, yeah, I had
[1:08:23] the opportunity to attend the
[1:08:25] California contract cities fall
[1:08:26] education summit education
[1:08:28] summit. I thought it was, uh,
[1:08:29] very enlightening. We got one
[1:08:33] of the biggest issues facing la
[1:08:35] County is the expansion of the
[1:08:39] board of supervisors from 55
[1:08:42] supervisors to 9 and going from,
[1:08:45] uh, basically a hired, uh, uh.
[1:08:47] Uh, executive officer who runs
[1:08:49] the county to an elected
[1:08:50] executive officer, and that
[1:08:50] s
[1:08:51] gonna have significant impacts
[1:08:55] on how la County operates and
[1:08:57] so um we got a lot of
[1:08:58] information, uh, we can receive
[1:08:59] a presentation, if we
[1:09:00] d like,
[1:09:02] um, but I think that was,
[1:09:02] that
[1:09:04] s one of the big things
[1:09:06] that, uh, that I walked away
[1:09:08] with. Um, we also got a
[1:09:10] presentation on how to, on some
[1:09:12] of the El Nino preparations
[1:09:14] that I know our city is getting
[1:09:14] ready to.
[1:09:16] Put information out to make
[1:09:16] sure we
[1:09:17] re we
[1:09:18] re well prepared
[1:09:19] for what
[1:09:20] s predicted to be a
[1:09:22] very rainy winter, so anyway,
[1:09:22] that
[1:09:23] s all I have.
[1:09:25] Um, we should probably do an El
[1:09:27] Nino presentation at one of our
[1:09:29] upcoming council meetings. So
[1:09:30] residents know what resources
[1:09:32] are available to them. Um um,
[1:09:33] and is this going to be
[1:09:34] something on the ballot as far
[1:09:37] as moving from 5 to 9? Uh, it
[1:09:37] s
[1:09:38] already, it was on the ballot
[1:09:41] and the voters approved it. Ok.
[1:09:42] All right, uh, with that, can I,
[1:09:43] I have no new business. Can I
[1:09:45] have a motion to adjourn?