All persons interested in the implementation of the Voters First Act, which calls for the selection of a Citizens Redistricting Commission that will draw new boundary lines for State Assembly, State Senate, and State Board of Equalization districts.
Representatives from the California Bureau of State Audits will be conducting public meetings to solicit comments about the processes that should be established for individuals to apply to become members of the Commission and for the selection of an Applicant Review Panel to assess the applicants and create an applicant pool of 60 qualified members. The meetings will be conducted on the following dates, at the times and locations specified below:
Sacramento – Monday, January 26, 2009
Location: Department of Health Services
East End Complex
1500 Capitol Mall
Sacramento, CA 95814
Time: 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. *
San Diego – Monday, February 9, 2009
Location: Caltrans Building
4050 Taylor Street
San Diego, CA 92110
Time: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. *
Fresno – Friday, February 20, 2009
Location: State Agencies Building
2550 Mariposa Mall
Room 1036
Fresno, CA 93721
Time: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. *
Los Angeles – Monday, February 23, 2009 (pending approval)
Location: Central Branch Library
Mark Taper Auditorium
630 W. 5th Street
Los Angeles, CA 90071
Time: 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. *
San Francisco – Friday, February 27, 2009
Location: Office of the Courts
Milton Marks Auditorium
455 Golden Gate Ave.
San Francisco, CA 94102
Time: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. *
* All meetings will conclude earlier if the participants in attendance have completed
their comments.
Parking availability and cost will vary by location. The State Auditor’s office cannot guarantee the availability of parking and is not responsible for any costs incurred as a result of participation in these meeings.
The facilities to be used for the meetings are accessible to persons with mobility impairments. Persons with sight or hearing impairments are requested to notify Barbara Paget at (916) 445-0255 at least ten (10) days prior to the meeting to make special arrangements.
The Act is California’s new law for drawing boundary lines for State Assembly, State Senate, and State Board of Equalization districts. The Act became law when voters approved Proposition 11 at the November 4, 2008, General Election. As part of the Act, a redistricting commission will be appointed to draw new boundary lines following each United States Census. The next Census is in 2010.
The State Auditor is responsible for implementing an application process for individuals interested in serving on the Commission and the State Auditor will also select a review panel, through random selection, to assess the qualifications of the applicants and establish an applicant pool of 60 qualified individuals. The Act specifies that the pool be comprised of three subpools based on the applicants’ political party affiliations. Once the applicant pool is established, the State Auditor will randomly draw eight names. Three names will be randomly drawn from each of the subpools that represent the largest and second largest political parties in California and two names will be randomly drawn from the subpool for the applicants who are not registered with the largest or second largest political parties in California. The newly appointed Commission members will then select the remaining members of the Commission. The State Auditor will repeat this process every 10 years (each time a United States Census is conducted). However, the State Auditor may need to establish a new pool for commissioner selection sooner if a vacancy on the Commission occurs and there are no qualified applicants remaining in the pools established for the current census.
The State Auditor is seeking your comments regarding the processes that should be established for individuals to apply to become members of the Commission and for the selection of an Applicant Review Panel to assess the applicants and create an applicant pool of 60 qualified members. The comments received during these meetings may be used to guide the State Auditor and her staff at the Bureau of State Audits regarding the processes that should be established and any regulations that may need to be adopted to direct these processes. Although participants may comment on any aspect of the State Auditor’s role in the implementation of the Act, the State Auditor is particularly interested in comments regarding the following:
- The application process for the selection of members of the Commission as discussed in Article XXI, Section 2(c)(3) of the California Constitution and Section 8252(a)(1) of the California Government Code.
- The creation of the Applicant Review Panel to screen Commission applicants as discussed in Section 8252(b) of the California Government Code.
- The removal of individuals from the applicant pool based on conflicts of interest identified in the Act as discussed in Section 8252(a)(2) of the California Government Code.
- The publication of the names in the applicant pool as discussed in Section 8252(c) of the California Government Code.
- The random selection of eight members of the Commission as discussed in Section 8252(f) of the California Government Code.
- The creation of a new pool of qualified applicants in the event of a vacancy on the Commission with no qualified person left in the pool previously established by the State Auditor to fill vacancies as discussed in Section 8252.5(b) of the California Government Code.
Participants should be prepared to present comments during the meetings. The meetings will be recorded.
Representatives from the Bureau of State Audits reserve the right to establish and control the manner and order in which comments are received. Participants should be prepared to present their comments at the time the meetings are scheduled to commence. Since the State Auditor is unable to anticipate the number of participants, the meetings will be adjourned before the scheduled end time if all participants in attendance who wish to comment have provided their comments, but under no circumstances will the meeting be extended beyond the scheduled end time. The length of time each participant has to comment may be limited. In the event that there are more participants than the meeting facilities allow, the State Auditor may schedule additional meetings to enable all who wish to participate to do so.
Participants are encouraged, but not required, to submit written statements to the address listed below, by no later than ten (10) days prior to the date the meeting is scheduled to commence. The prior submission of written statements is purely voluntary and you may attend and participate in the meetings even if you do not submit your comments in writing beforehand. You may also provide written comments only, without attending the meetings, by submitting them to the address listed below.
Important Note: Please be advised that participation in the meetings will be in addition to, and not in substitution for, participation in any formal rulemaking process that may be initiated to adopt regulations related to the State Auditor’s responsibilities in implementing the Act. This Notice of Interested Persons Meetings (Notice) is not a Notice of Proposed Action under the Administrative Procedure Act. Consequently, comments (oral and/or written) received in connection with the meetings (or this Notice) will not be included in any rulemaking file that may be established if a Notice of Proposed Action is issued. Similarly, the State Auditor is not required to respond to comments made at the meetings (or in response to this Notice). For this reason, if you wish to have comments included in any rulemaking file that may be established at a later time, or to require the State Auditor to respond to comments as part of any process that may be initiated to adopt regulations to implement sections of the Act, you must present your comments according to the procedures outlined in any Notice of Proposed Action that may be issued, regardless of whether you have provided comments in connection with the meetings (or this Notice).
All inquiries should be directed to:
Barbara Paget
Bureau of State Audits
Telephone: (916) 445-0255
Email: barbarap@bsa.ca.gov