The City of Clovis is now accepting submissions from the public for the first-ever city council district map.
Clovis is also taking public input on whether or not to have an at-large mayor, or keep the current system in place.
The backstory: Clovis is switching over from its at-large council district representation to a district system after being threatened with a lawsuit from the Southwest Voter Registration Education Project, an organization that has effectively forced many cities across the state to switch to district systems.
- The organization alleged that the city was in violation of the California Voting Rights Act of 2001 by not having districts.
The big picture: The city has provided several map-drawing tools for residents to create their own maps and submit them to the city.
- All of the tools can be found on the city’s website.
- Clovis residents are able to outline the boundaries for what they see their neighborhoods as and for other areas that they think should be kept together in a district.
Go deeper: While the city has historically had a mayor selected by the city council, Clovis is now considering having a citizen-elected mayor.
- If the city moves in that direction, the city would have four council districts for the city council with the entire city voting on a mayor.
- Clovis is asking for the public’s input on having five council districts or four districts plus a citizen-elected mayor.
What we’re watching: Clovis will hold a community map-drawing workshop on Jan. 9 at 6 p.m. at the Clovis Transit Center. The workshop will teach the community how to use the map-drawing tools and how to submit maps for consideration.
- There will also be three public hearings during regularly scheduled city council meetings from January to March.
- The final deadline to submit a map is Feb. 21, and the council is scheduled to vote on a final map on March 4.
