Five outreach sessions in April will focus on community input for district boundaries

The Chula Vista Districting Commission, formed to construct four City Council districts to be used in future City elections, will hold five public workshops in April to gain community input on districting boundaries. The Commission is overseeing a process for holding public meetings, proposing districts, conducting public outreach, and finalizing recommendations to submit to the City Council. The workshops will be held April 7 through 9, at 6 p.m. and April 11, at 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. Specific locations for these workshops can be found below and by visiting www.chulavistaca.gov/districting.

At the public input hearings, the Commission’s consultants will provide a brief training for all attendees and an opportunity for attendees to look at maps and data before providing testimony. Participants will be able to fill out a form that describes their neighborhood or community of interest to submit to the Commission or they can tell the Commission about it in person. The workshops will be conducted in English and oral translation will be provided in Spanish, Filipino, Traditional Chinese and Vietnamese.

Materials at the workshops will be provided in English, Spanish, Filipino, Traditional Chinese and Vietnamese as well.

For those who can’t attend a workshop, comments can be provided in writing and submitted via email to districting@chulavistaca. gov, faxed to (619) 409-5884, mailed, or submitted in person to Chula Vista Districting Commission, c/o City Clerk, 276 Fourth Avenue, Bldg. A, Chula Vista, 91910, or at City Hall. Messages also may be left on the Districting Commission’s phone line at (619) 409-1946.

Currently, Chula Vista is not divided by districts. A Charter amendment approved by the voters in 2012 requires that City Council-members be elected by geographic district, beginning with the 2016 election. Those running for Council must reside in the district they wish to represent and residents in each district will vote only for candidates in their respective district. For example, the Council-member serving District 1 will reside in District 1 and be elected only by voters who reside in District 1.

The Mayor will continue to be elected at-large by all voters in the City.

The Commission holds regular meetings on the second Monday of each month in addition to public outreach meetings throughout the City. A second phase of public workshops will be held in May. More information on these workshops will be available soon.

The Districting Commission is composed of the following members: Chair Jerome Torres, Rita Buencamino-Andrews, Cheryl Goddard, Dr. John Korey, Dr. Reynaldo Monzon, William Richter and Bernardo Vasquez.

Chula Vista Districting Commission April Public Workshops
Tuesday, April 7, 6 p.m.
Bonita Vista Middle School
650 Otay Lakes Rd, Chula Vista, CA 91910

Wednesday, April 8, 6 p.m.
Parkway Community Center – Women’s Center 357 G Street
Chula Vista, 91910

Thursday, April 9, 6 p.m. Otay Ranch Library “HUB”
(Otay Ranch Town Center by the Food Court) 2015 Birch Road
Chula Vista, 91915

Saturday, April 11, 9 a.m. MAAC Charter School 1385 Third Avenue
Chula Vista, 91911

Saturday, April 11, 3 p.m. Greg Rogers Elementary 510 East Naples
Chula Vista, 91911

For more information, visit www.chulavistaca.gov/districting.