Sonoma County redistricting process will come to a close with map adoption on Dec. 14

The final version of a redistricting map approved by the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors at the fifth redistricting public hearing on Tuesday has been posted on the county’s website and is available for public review. 

This final map, referred to as “Revised Sonoma County Supervisorial District Boundaries” on the interactive map, will be brought back to the supervisors for a final vote at its next meeting on Tuesday, Dec. 14 at 2 p.m. Public comments will be received as part of the agenda item but further changes will not be made as the county has a statutory obligation to adopt the new map by Dec. 15. The new map will go into effect during the next election cycle.

Residents are invited to utilize the interactive version of the new map on the Sonoma County redistricting webpage to determine whether the district boundaries have changed for their place of residence. The new map will be in use for the next decade until the next redistricting process, which is set to take place in 2031 after the next decennial federal Census.

Throughout the redistricting process, which began on Feb. 23, Sonoma County undertook extensive outreach to help drive engagement and participation from members of the public. These actions included:

• Establishment of the Sonoma County Advisory Redistricting Commission (ARC), composed of 19 community members, to advise and assist the Board with redrawing supervisorial district boundaries. The ARC held 8 public meetings: June 28, July 26, Aug. 23 (public hearing), Sept. 1 (training), Sept. 13 (equity), Oct. 18, Oct. 22 and Oct. 25, 2021.
• Held five public hearings on redistricting: Aug. 23 (ARC), Oct. 5, Nov. 2, Nov. 16, and Dec. 7, 2021.
• Held town halls on Sept. 15 and Nov. 22 and a public workshop on Nov. 29, 2021.
• Production of materials for each commissioner, including paper maps, redistricting flyers, pre-paid postcards for input.
• Creation of a dedicated redistricting English/Spanish webpage, sonomacounty.ca.gov/redistricting, to enhance transparency and enable a consolidated experience for members of the public to learn about the process, leverage mapping tools, access information in several languages and observe the redistricting meetings.
• Retaining of public outreach and local engagement consultant who conducted 34 Community Engagement Opportunities (including 13 focus group sessions; 16 group or radio presentations; 3 Town Halls; 2 map drawing parties)
• Radio advertisement promoting the Advisory Redistricting Committee hearings. 
• Weekly redistricting social media posts in English and Spanish during the months of June to December about the status of the effort and to direct members of the public on how to get involved and submit feedback. These efforts also included boosted posts to promote ARC meetings and redistricting hearings.
• Development of a supermarket video that was displayed in over a dozen stores across Sonoma County. 
• Signage on Sonoma County Transit buses in October and November
• Production of online and paper mapping tools, a fact sheet and two bilingual educational animated videos, and large format district maps which were utilized on the website, social media, during meetings with community groups and more.
• Press releases and flyers were distributed to local media outlets and the public to promote each of the various 20 public meetings including ARC meetings, redistricting hearings and other informational meetings and town halls. All public meetings made Spanish translation and materials available to attendees. 
• Hundreds of outreach calls to and smaller informal meetings with local and prominent community organizations were conducted to aid in the dissemination of information regarding hearings, mapping tools and participation process as well as collect feedback on district composition and preferences. 

The final district map, all draft maps considered throughout the process, ARC and Board meeting and hearing materials and recordings, and other redistricting resources can be accessed through the County of Sonoma’s redistricting webpage. This webpage and all its materials will be archived and available for reference until the next redistricting process.