The first of three public hearings for the proposed trustee areas was held by the Board of Trustees of the Santa Clarita Community College District Tuesday night.

The hearing’s purpose was to receive public input and testimony regarding the proposed trustee area maps.

The district is changing its election system from “at-large” voting to “by-trustee area” voting in response to a lawsuit under the California Voting Rights Act.

Under the new “by-trustee area” voting system, members of the board are elected by the voters of the trustee area in which they reside.

Douglas Johnson, the president of National Demographics Corporation, or NDC, made a presentation about the federal criteria for drawing the trustee areas:

• Each trustee area needs to have an equal population with about 53,000 people per trustee area, with an ultimate maximum difference of about five percent.
• The trustee areas cannot result in a denial or abridgment of the right of any citizen to vote on account of race or color.
• The boundaries of the trustee areas shall observe communities of interest, including: rural or urban population; social interests; agricultural, industrial or service industry interests.

Johnson also discussed the criteria used to simplify the trustee areas for the voters:

• The boundaries of the trustee areas shall be compact and contiguous, where the lines aren’t divided by another trustee area.
• The boundaries of the trustee areas may observe topography and geography, such as the existence of mountains, flat land, forest lands, man-made geographical features, such as highways and major roads, as natural divisions between districts.

The boundaries of the trustee areas will avoid the “pairing” of incumbents in the same trustee area, Johnson said.

Some primary factors, such as the elementary school districts, freeways and major roads, guided the process to draw the boundaries, said Johnson.

The initial plans are available for public review at the website.

There were, however, some concerns regarding the proposed trustee area maps, such as incumbency and clarification.

“I do want to address one overall issue that has come up in other districts, and that is the issue of incumbency,” said Jim Soliz, a Santa Clarita resident for about 34 years. “I’m very concerned that whatever maps, whatever districts are created… (will reflect) the protection of established incumbencies.”

Rebecca Eikey, a chemistry Instructor at College of the Canyons, was concerned that the color coding on the maps were not the same and also had a hard time reading the names of the roads. Ultimately, Eikey wanted more clarity with the maps.

President of the College of the Canyons Faculty Association, Wendy Brill-Wynkoop, directed a process question to the Board of Trustees.

“It seems like there needs to be an intelligent discussion about why one would be better than another,” Brill-Wynkoop. “I hear a lot of questions but I’m wondering if there will be a time when we get to hear the thought behind the choice.”

After the third public hearing regarding the trustee area maps, there will be a public meeting, said the Board of Trustees.

With the concerns voiced, Johnson said he is open to making new and revised plans.

“There are good and bad things that come from by-trustee area elections, but one of the unavoidable things is that if you go to trustee area elections, you have to draw trustee area lines,” said Johnson. “Is it a bummer if your neighbor is in a different trustee area that you and you want to work together, certainly. But, it’s part of the bigger picture, which is there is no ideal election system.”

Two additional public hearings are scheduled:

6 p.m., Wednesday, Oct. 21

College of the Canyons Canyon Country Campus

Applied Technology Education Center, Room 701/702

17200 Sierra Highway

Santa Clarita, CA 91351

6:30 p.m., Wednesday, Nov. 4

Newhall Elementary School Auditorium

24607 Walnut St.

Santa Clarita, CA 91321

The board anticipates taking final action at the close of the third public hearing on Nov. 4 to choose a trustee area plan to propose to the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges for final approval.

“The goal is to get these lines adopted into place with plenty of time for people who want to run in 2016 to know where the lines are and to get organized and decide whether or not to run,” said Johnson.

Pending approval by the state Board of Governors, the new election system will be used for the district’s November 2016 board elections.