Compiled by RADC Members - Tracy Wise and Jeff Poggi

1. Keep Pushing—The Clock Is Ticking: Ensure Voting Rights Legislation Is Passed in the U.S. Senate:

The slim Dem majority in the Senate has a lot on its plate right now, but senators cannot and must not push voting rights legislation back any further. We must get voting rights passed and stop with the doomed vote theater and carve out an exception in the filibuster for voting rights at the very least.

Please write to Senators Feinstein and Padilla ASAP with this message (feel free to replace with your own words):

Dear Senator Feinstein/Padilla--

I am one of your California constituents who believes that passing voting rights legislation ASAP is vital to pushing back against efforts across the country to disenfranchise voters and block access to the polls. It is urgent that all Senate Democrats at least implement a carve-out in the filibuster for voting rights or cancel the filibuster altogether so that this bill can be passed ASAP. You are our voices in the Senate. We are running out of time.

Thank you

YOUR NAME

YOUR ZIP

Senator Diane Feinstein, 11111 Santa Monica Blvd., Suite 915, Los Angeles, CA 90025 - (310) 914-7300 or [https://www.feinstein.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/e-mail-me].

Senator Alex Padilla, 11845 West Olympic Blvd., Suite 1250W, Los Angeles, CA 90064 - (310) 231-4494  [https://www.padilla.senate.gov/]


2. Re-Districting:  State Commission Proposal to *SPLIT REDLANDS*

The California Citizens Redistricting Commission proposes to split Redlands into two.

One district, tentatively represented by Pete Aguilar (D), would encompass the northern part of Redlands along with Rancho Cucamonga, Rialto, San Bernardino, Highland, Colton, and Mentone.

The other district, tentatively represented by Jay Obernolte (R), would encompass the southern part of Redlands along with Loma Linda, Crestline, and most of the desert land within San Bernardino County.

You can send in your comments:  https://www.wedrawthelinesca.org/contact or via EM:  or via EM - [email protected] .

Points you can make:

 

  • I am a resident of Redlands/Loma Linda.
  • Redlands-specific comments: 
  • Dividing a small city in half is not helpful to its effective functioning.
  • The City of Redlands is already struggling with a long-term north/south divide. This proposed redistricting plan will make this division even worse.
  • This proposed divide in Redlands polarizes the city politically, which is not helpful in the current climate.
  • The communities closest to Redlands are those to its west and north, not to the east.

 

      • We are asking that the Commission follow their own aim: (From the 12/7/21 NY Times) ‘Commissioner J. Ray Kennedy, a Democrat, said the panel must create districts of equal population that are contiguous and compact, and to the extent practicable, keep counties, cities, neighborhoods and “communities of interest” together.’

 

  • Any additional specific comments about Loma Linda and this new proposed map.

 

Link to read the NYTimes article: 

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/07/us/politics/california-redistricting-midterms.html 

 

To access the live meetings:  https://videossc.com/CRC/

 

The full list of meetings:

December 8, 2021 Meeting 
(Review Visualizations/Line Drawing Meeting)
2020 Citizens Redistricting Commission Meeting – 11:00 A.M. – 6:00 P.M. daily or upon conclusion of business

December 9, 2021 Meeting 
(Review Visualizations/Line Drawing Meeting)
2020 Citizens Redistricting Commission Meeting – 11:00 A.M. – 6:00 P.M. daily or upon conclusion of business

December 10, 2021 Meeting 
(Review Visualizations/Line Drawing Meeting)
2020 Citizens Redistricting Commission Meeting – 11:00 A.M. – 6:00 P.M. daily or upon conclusion of business

December 11, 2021 CRC Business Meeting
2020 Citizens Redistricting Commission Meeting – 1:00 P.M. – 6:00 P.M. daily or upon conclusion of business 

December 13, 2021 Meeting 
(Live Line Drawing Meeting)
2020 Citizens Redistricting Commission Meeting – 1:00 P.M. – 8:00 P.M. daily or upon conclusion of business

December 14, 2021 Meeting
(Live Line Drawing Meeting)
2020 Citizens Redistricting Commission Meeting – 10:00 A.M. – 5:00 P.M. daily or upon conclusion of business

December 15, 2021 Meeting
(Live Line Drawing Meeting)
2020 Citizens Redistricting Commission Meeting – 10:00 A.M. – 5:00 P.M. daily or upon conclusion of business

December 16, 2021 Meeting
(Live Line Drawing Meeting)
2020 Citizens Redistricting Commission Meeting – 10:00 A.M. – 5:00 P.M. daily or upon conclusion of business

December 17, 2021 Meeting
(Live Line Drawing Meeting)
2020 Citizens Redistricting Commission Meeting – 10:00 A.M. – 5:00 P.M. daily or upon conclusion of business

December 18, 2021 Meeting
(Live Line Drawing Meeting)
2020 Citizens Redistricting Commission Meeting – 10:00 A.M. – 5:00 P.M. daily or upon conclusion of business

December 19, 2021 Meeting
(Live Line Drawing Meeting)
2020 Citizens Redistricting Commission Meeting – 11:00 A.M. – 6:00 P.M. daily or upon conclusion of business

December 20, 2021 CRC Business Meeting
2020 Citizens Redistricting Commission Meeting – 9:30 A.M. – 4:30 P.M. daily or upon conclusion of business

December 21, 2021 Final Report Meeting
2020 Citizens Redistricting Commission Meeting – 11:00 A.M. – 6:00 P.M. daily or upon conclusion of business

December 22, 2021 Final Report Meeting
2020 Citizens Redistricting Commission Meeting – 11:00 A.M. – 6:00 P.M. daily or upon conclusion of business

December 23, 2021 CRC Business Meeting
2020 Citizens Redistricting Commission Meeting – 9:30 A.M. – 4:30 P.M. daily or upon conclusion of business

December 27, 2021 CRC Business Meeting
2020 Citizens Redistricting Commission Meeting – 9:30 A.M. – 4:30 P.M. daily or upon conclusion of business

https://www.wedrawthelinesca.org/meetings 


3. Re-Districting:  City of Redlands Council Districts Process Underway

 

The City of Redlands is now calling for input on its re-districting process. The current election district boundary map, demographics and paper mapping tools are now available on the City’s website at https://drawredlands.org/draw-a-map/. The public is invited to submit information regarding their Communities of Interest and proposed district boundaries for the 2021 redistricting process by Jan. 31, 2022, via e-mail to [email protected] or in person at the City of Redlands City Hall (35 Cajon St., Suite 2).

Under state and federal law, voting districts must meet the following criteria:

  • Each Council District must contain approximately the same number of inhabitants.
  • Council District borders must be drawn in a manner that complies with the Federal Voting Rights Act.
  • A Council District must not be drawn with race as the predominant factor in violation of the principles established by the United States Supreme Court in Shaw v. Reno, 509 U.S. 630 (1993), and its progeny.
  • Any questions may be directed to Tricia Munoz via email at [email protected] or by phone at (909) 335-4755 ext. 9.

 

https://www.cityofredlands.org/article/community-invited-submit-council-redistricting-maps 

 

ONGOING REMINDERS

  • REMINDER:  Voting Rights:  New *City* Redistricting Information/Action

Upcoming City of Redlands public meetings are scheduled:

  • January 18, 2022 (time, etc. tbd)
  • February 15, 2022 (time, etc. tbd)
  • April 17, 2022 – adoption of the final maps

 

  • REMINDER:  Voting Rights:  New *County* Redistricting Information

Here is the website, with the list of upcoming meetings *and* information on how to submit a map to the redistricting committee:  https://sbcountyredistricting.com/ . The final meeting took place on December 7th. From the website: “Based on Federal and State law criteria, the Advisory Redistricting Commission will recommend a minimum of two possible maps to the Board of Supervisors for adoption consideration. Final map to be adopted by the Board of Supervisors on or before December 15, 2021.”

 

 

  • REMINDER:  Voting Rights:  New *Water* Redistricting Information

No new information available. Here is a link to the current maps of the IE’s water districts:  https://www.arcgis.com/apps/MapSeries/index.html?appid=e1a0b6df610f490892a970b01952274d&entry=3 

 

We will continue to keep you up-to-date on redistricting efforts around our county (they voted NO on any meeting[s] in Redlands) and water districts and any further City redistricting news.

 

  • REMINDER:  Replacement process for Councilmember Paul Foster in motion

At the November 2, 2021 City Council meeting, with a vote of 3-2, “the City Council authorized Mayor Barich and Mayor Pro Tem Tejeda to speak to the five former Council members, residing in District 5, to determine their willingness to serve the remainder of Council Member Foster’s term, while also holding no interest in running for election in November 2022; the City Council authorized Mayor Barich and Mayor Pro Tem Tejeda to bring their recommendation to the full City Council; and agreed that in the event that none of the five former Council Members agreed to serve the remainder of the term, Council approved to fill the vacancy through an application and interview process as presented by Assistant City Manager McConnell.”—this quote is from the Minutes which can be found at: https://destinyhosted.com/agenda_publish.cfm?id=73352&mt=ALL&get_month=11&get_year=2021&dsp=min&seq=262 


STICK A PIN IN THIS

 

  • The Rittenhouse trial demonstrated to us that judicial elections are incredibly important. Let us pledge together to become better informed prior to the next election where judges are on the ballot to ensure that we are electing qualified, non-partisan members of the bench to serve the judiciary in our region. #NoRittenhouseJudgesHere
  • UPDATED:  The California 2021 Legislative Session ended with Governor Newsom signing his last bills prior to the October 10th deadline.  The next Legislative Session should reconvene in December.

 

    • The final set of approved bills included:
      • Providing Immediate Relief for those Hardest Hit by COVID-19
      • Confronting the Homelessness & Housing Affordability Crisis
      • Transforming Public Schools as Gateways for Opportunity
      • Building Infrastructure for the Next Century
      • Combating Wildfires & Tackling Climate Change

https://www.gov.ca.gov/2021/10/09/governor-newsom-takes-final-action-of-2021-legislative-session/