City of Upland, CA

City Manager's Focus

Redistricting Brings Changes for Upland

Every 10 years the federal government conducts a census of all residents living in the United States.  The census results are used to determine a variety of items, from allocation of funding from federal programs, to representation in federal, state, and local governments.

In California, an independent bipartisan commission carries out the work of redrawing boundaries.  Members of the commission applied to the California State Auditor’s Applicant Review Panel, which forwarded 60 names of the most qualified citizens to leaders of the legislature for review.  At the end of the review process, 36 applicants remained on the list.  The first eight members were selected at random by the California State Auditor—three who are Democrats, three who are Republicans, and two who are either Decline-to-State or are registered with another party.  These eight members then selected the last six members of the fourteen-person commission.

At the county level, districts are drawn by County Supervisors according to criteria adopted as policy in March of 2011.  Like the state commission, the primary criteria used included balancing population (plus or minus 3% between the largest and smallest supervisorial districts) and conforming to Section 2 of the federal Voting Rights Act, which provides for electoral processes to be equally accessible to minority voters.  In addition, the Supervisors set the goals of being as compact and contiguous as possible, and following visible and manmade geographical and topographical features while conforming to the two primary criteria.

The results of the process have been mixed for the City of Upland.  At the County level, Upland now has two County Supervisors: Janice Rutherford (District 2) who represents the area north of Foothill Boulevard and Gary Ovitt (District 4) who represents the part of Upland south of Foothill Boulevard.

While representation at the County level may seem to have doubled, Upland was less fortunate at the state level.  Today Upland is represented by Senator Bob Dutton (District 31) and Assemblyman Mike Morrell (District 63).  Redistricting has linked Upland with communities to the west in both the State Senate and the Assembly.  Senate District 25 extends from the San Fernando Valley in the west to Upland in the east, and Assembly District 41 runs from Pasadena in the west to Upland in the east, including a small portion of Rancho Cucamonga.

The City of Upland wrote to the Citizen’s Redistricting Commission to protest the proposed maps last June, stating, “Clearly, the proposed … maps do not meet the Commission’s stated criteria to ‘respect counties, cities, communities of interest, and neighborhoods, where possible.”  The letter went on to point out that all regional transportation, planning, and transit services are provided by San Bernardino County-based entities with no connection to Los Angeles County.  The letter drew the conclusion that Upland’s small population and its interests would be overwhelmed by the larger concerns of Los Angeles County communities.  The maps, however, were finalized on August 15, 2011 without change.

At the federal level, Upland fared slightly better.  Currently, the entire City is part of the 26th Congressional District, an area that starts in Fontana and reaches west through the San Gabriel Valley and is represented by Congressman David Dreier.  Under redistricting, the area generally north of 14th Street is part of District 27, which is roughly the same geographical area as previously.  The area south of 14th Street is now part of District 31, an area mostly comprised of San Bernardino County communities.

As the elections process moves forward, Upland will be proactive in reaching out to legislators running for seats that include Upland so they understand the issues facing our community, and that Upland’s interests are considered in policy-making for the region.  In addition, once elections are held, Upland will work to establish good communication with those elected to build on earlier efforts and will advance.