Come November, San Clemente residents will vote according to the first map the City Council adopted in October 2023, marking another flip as the council voted against adopting Map 111 on second reading Tuesday night, Jan. 16.
Mayor Victor Cabral again represented the deciding vote, as he and Councilmembers Steve Knoblock and Rick Loeffler chose not to follow the staff recommendation of affirming Map 111 as the city’s map for its by-district election system and approving a new sequence of districts to elect councilmembers to represent in 2024. The three also voted, 3-2, against Mayor Pro Tem Mark Enmeier’s motion to establish an independent redistricting commission that would restart the map process.
With those votes, the city returned to its status quo of having Ordinance 1762 with Map 109 in place, City Attorney Elizabeth Mitchell told the council.
Cabral’s concerns regarding the impact of the FAIR MAPS Act of 2023, which was passed in October 2023, and his lack of complete trust in an independent commission influenced his decision.
“Even though I would like to address some of the issues related to Map 120 and to the canyons, we’re not permitted to, in my view,” he said. “The only option we have is an independent commission, which would keep it out of our hands, which I’m not ready to do at this point.”
Section 33 of the FAIR MAPS Act limits general law cities’ ability to adopt a new council district boundary before the next census unless one of five events occur: a court order, the city council’s settling of a legal claim, the changing of a city’s boundaries via adding new territory, the changing of the number of councilmembers elected by districts, or the establishment of an independent redistricting commission.
Under California’s newly amended Elections Code, which went into effect on Jan. 1, Cabral felt the council wasn’t permitted to formalize Map 111 for San Clemente’s new election system. He also stated the council couldn’t advance Map 120, another map that fixed citizens’ concerns about Map 109’s splitting of the Pier Bowl area.
Map 120 had support from a vocal contingent of attendees on Tuesday evening, many of whom donned pins with the emblem of the Southwest San Clemente Alliance. Roughly 30 public speakers voiced their opinions during the agenda item, almost entirely in opposition of Map 111 and in support of Map 120, which didn’t bisect the southwest portion of the city.
SWSC leader Sarah Schneider was among those who spoke, arguing that the city’s map shouldn’t divide communities of interest such as southwest San Clemente and the Forster Ranch area.
“According to public record emails (received by the council by Dec. 15), voters overwhelmingly support Map 120/109 with 87% support levels,” Schneider said. “In other words, eight out of every nine people that emailed the council support Map 120.”
After the public-comment period, Councilmember Chris Duncan opined that Maps 109 & 120 both had issues in terms of splitting important areas, and that the best course of action would be to start over the process with an independent commission that received more public input.
“At this point, it seems like we’re wading into difficult waters with any of these maps, to be honest with you, in terms of our legal position,” he said.
City Attorney Mitchell later clarified that if the council chose to establish a commission, it would have to set an application process, and a person who is not an elected official would appoint members to the commission.
Loeffler said he was unsure of whether he would trust such a process, reiterating that he supported Map 109 and wouldn’t change his mind. Knoblock followed suit in backing the map, adding that he disagreed with the notion that splitting the Pier Bowl was a “major issue.”
Knoblock also said any suggestions that councilmembers’ decisions were politically motivated were silly.
With Cabral’s view that the council’s hands were tied in terms of advancing any maps besides Map 109, he indicated that the best currently possible solution for those in the audience would be to revert to Map 109.
Residents in Districts 3 and 4, which mostly consist of the area west of Interstate 5 and the southwest corner of San Clemente, will vote for new representatives in the November election.
More information about Map 109 and the by-district election system can be found at san-clemente.org.