Last chance to speak to supervisors about district lines

Jamie Gentner
Siskiyou Daily News
October 11, 2011

Residents will have one more opportunity to speak to the Siskiyou County Board of Supervisors regarding the lines for Siskiyou County supervisorial districts after clerical errors required changes that put off a vote on the districts for another two weeks.

New supervisorial districts have been considered since July, following the release of 2010 census numbers.

County clerk's offices are required to consider redistricting for supervisorial districts every 10 years following the release of census numbers in an effort to ensure equalized population distribution within a county's districts.

Since Siskiyou County Clerk Colleen Setzer started presenting options to the Siskiyou County Board of Supervisors, 11 options have been explored.

The goal has been to bring the districts as close as possible to a 10-percent population deviation between districts.

The supervisors indicated at an August meeting that they intended to accept Plan 9, which would affect about 200 county residents in an area outside Yreka city limits near Phillipe Lane. Under that plan, the area west of Phillipe Lane to Montague that currently falls within District 4 would move into District 1.

But in early September, the supervisors changed course, deciding instead to keep the districts as they currently stand instead of making any changes, presented as Plan 5.

Keeping the district boundaries the same results in a 12.67-percent population deviation, whereas Plan 9 would have brought the deviation down to 10.26 percent.

Setzer and Jody Tarvin of VESTRA Resources, which helped the clerk's office develop the alternate redistricting plans, have told the supervisors that although Plan 5 has a higher population deviation, it is still an option because there isn't a statute or law established that says a 10-percent deviation must be maintained; it's simply a state recommendation.

At a public hearing Sept. 20, the board presented the proposal as a first reading. The hearing was continued to the Oct. 4 supervisors' meeting for a second reading, but Setzer requested the board reconsider the hearing another first reading.

The reason for the re-done first reading was cited as "clerical errors in the legal descriptions of the districts" that had to be changed late the previous week, which resulted in a different ordinance.

County Counsel Thomas Guarino explained that the changes were only minor and did not result in redrawing any boundaries.

One public comment by Lake Shastina resident Tom Wetter expressed concern that the maps provided to show district boundaries don't "clearly show me where the district lines are."

Setzer explained that the "county's limited resources and GIS system" don't allow her office to provide maps with intricate detail, but District 3 Supervisor Michael Kobseff suggested that the ordinance offers written descriptions that provide more detail than the maps.

The ordinance is available for review at the Siskiyou County Clerk's Office, 510 N. Main St. in Yreka, or by accessing the agenda item on the Oct. 4 agenda at www.co.siskiyou.ca.us/BOS/agenda.aspx. Maps of the proposed plans are also available through the clerk's office.

The public hearing regarding the re-establishment of boundaries for supervisorial districts was continued to Oct. 18 at 11 a.m., at which time the second reading will take place and then the supervisors will decide whether to pass it or not.

If passed, the ordinance would become effective within 30 days.

For more information about the supervisorial districts, call the clerk's office at 842-8084.