Getting Familiar

I feel the next step in this journey should be to familiarize ourselves with the council members and some basic info about the districts they represent. Two members have been in the news recently due to recall notices that were served to both Mayor Andrew Coolidge representing district 5 and Sean Morgan representing district 1, but we’ll get into that later. For now, we need to be aware that there are 7 members and seven districts.

Each council member is elected for a 4 year term. Not every district has an assigned member yet, but that will be resolved after the election this November. Currently, we have Sean Morgan representing district 1, Dale Bennett representing district 3, Andrew Coolidge representing District 5, and Deepika Tandon representing district 7. Districts 2, 4, and 6 will be selecting their representatives the next election. The Council selects the mayor and vice mayor from among its members to serve two-year terms, with Andrew Coolidge as Mayor and Kasey Reynolds as Vice mayor currently.

Here is a useful link that shows the proposed districts and who the currently elected representatives are:

https://chico.ca.us/sites/main/files/file-attachments/chico_round4_demographics_v1a.pdf?1593737106

These seven districts were created in February 2020, and then eventually revised earlier this year with new mapping and will be implemented during our November 2022 election. A city will generally draw new district lines every 10 years. How did our redistricting happen so early? According to a City of Chico Redistricting Overview document provided by the City, the districts created in 2020 were using 2010 Census data. With the release of the new 2020 census data and under the FAIR MAPS Act, the city is allowed to initiate a new redistricting process.

 

https://chico.ca.us/sites/main/files/file-attachments/public_submission_6c_0.pdf?1648744291

There was plenty of controversy regarding our new district lines. The council had narrowed down the options to 3 choices, named 5B, 2C, or 6C. Ultimately, map 6C was chosen and passed with a 5-2 vote. One of the major concerns had to do with how the avenues are split up into 3 different districts. Many had spoken out in favor of the other two maps claiming they would not exacerbate partisan divides. Many were concerned that the new map is splitting up voters into different districts and disenfranchising them. Using census data, an analysis linked under the picture above shows that the population deviation was the lowest of all the maps provided, which is likely why it was chosen. Even if the map doesn’t seem like the best option, the numbers say it is. Lets hope the numbers are right.