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Foothills Sentry Page 2 November 2021 jadtec.com $ 15 95 /mo SECURITY JADTEC ACO 4202 Protecting your family, home and business from burglary, fire and medical emergencies. 714 282 0828 | jadtec.com Happiest of Hol idays ly a d g to be drawn along partisan lines. They “shall not favor or discrimi- nate against a political party.” Boundaries must be contiguous, with neighborhoods and com- munities of interest kept together, easily identifiable and compact areas, without “fingers” or odd shapes to bypass one group to en- compass another group. In addition, the goal is to mini- mize moving voters from one district to another, consider future population growth and preserve the cores of existing districts. Most importantly, districts must be relatively equal in popu- lation. As of 2020, Orange’s pop- ulation is 140,190, making the ideal breakdown 23,365 people per district. Given that a perfect allotment of people per district is unlikely, the deviation between the largest and smallest districts can’t be more than 10%. Balance of power Today the deviation in the dis- tricts is 15.5%. The city’s popu- lation growth and shifting density has made District 1 10% too large and District 6, 5.49% too small. District 1 experienced the larg- est population growth due to the new Town and Country complex. District 2 is slightly high; districts 3, 4 and 5, slightly low. District 6 is going to require the most at- tention. According to Levitt, “it violates the Fair Map Act because not all of it is connected.” The western portion of the district is separat- ed from the eastern portion by a county island. “You are looking at substantial changes in those ar- eas,” Levitt said. He also cautioned the council to avoid major changes in District 2. A goal of the original district- ing was to give more represen- tation to the Latino population. Ideally, that would mean 50% of a district would be Latino. In Dis- trict 2, Levitt reported, the Latino population was about 43%; today it is 44%. “You don’t want that number to get lower.” Quiet on the redistricting front The redistricting presentation was part of a public hearing, al- lowing residents an opportunity to provide input. There were, however, few members of the public to be heard. The only speaker, Sammy Rodriquez of the ElMo Barrio in District 5, asked that the city not change that dis- trict. “We are concerned that the city is going to violate the voting rights act. The new maps will be sent to our attorney.” Another public hearing is slat- ed for Dec. 14. Levitt emphasized that NDC needs input from resi- dents to determine communities of interest: those that share ge- ography, lifestyle, focal points or other commonalities. He encour- aged individuals to participate us- ing a tool on the city website that allows everyone to “draw their own map.” “Remember,” he said, “the fi- nal district map created in 2019 was very similar to one drawn by a resident.” See orangedistricts. org. See "Districts" continued from page 1 Orange names interim city manager The Orange City Council ap- proved an agreement with Tom Hatch to assume the position of interim city manager, effective Oct. 25. Hatch’s term as interim city manager may run for up to a year, but can be terminated with a 30-day written notice. The city is currently conducting an execu- tive search for a permanent city manager. Hatch brings over 34 years of local government experience with both municipal and county agen- cies, including nearly eight years as city manager of Costa Mesa. For the past three years, he has served the County of Orange as chief human resources officer. He takes over from Rick Otto, who retired in early October after 34 years of public service, the last six as city manager of Orange. The Woman’s Club of Orange will hold its monthly general meeting on Monday, Nov. 15, at 11:30 a.m. at the clubhouse. Tick- ets for the luncheon are $25. At that meeting, tickets will also be on sale for the club’s Quarterma- nia, slated for Jan. 15. If you are interested in learning more about the Woman’s Club of Orange, please call (714) 744-6469. The historic clubhouse is located at 121 S. Center St. Woman’s Club to meet The 2020 census and new rules for boundaries require the City of Orange to redraw its voter districts. Dis- trict 6 is currently divided by a county island (now illegal) and has too few inhabitants compared to other districts. District 1 now has too many.