The right to vote is one of our most foundational rights as Americans — we have the right to be equally and fairly represented. Our county is redistricting, which means that we are assessing current supervisorial district boundaries and redrawing all five districts based on the federal 2020 Census to account for changes in the County’s population and to comply with the California Fair Maps Act. This process relies on community members weighing in on what the County of Santa Barbara Board of Supervisors’ Districts should look like.
Redistricting happens every 10 years following the federal Census and requires all voting districts to be roughly equal in population. Measure G, a county ordinance passed in 2018, requires that this decennial process be led by the Santa Barbara County Citizens’ Independent Redistricting Commission (SBCIRC): a nonpartisan commission made up of 11 Santa Barbara County residents. SBCIRC’s mission is to determine the county’s supervisorial district borders based on community-submitted maps to satisfy the state’s legal requirements, and to accurately represent and enfranchise our county’s diverse communities.
We are honored to be the chair and vice chair of this commission. The SBCIRC’s top priority is to get our diverse communities engaged. We know that it is in the county’s best interest that residents in every neighborhood and community share thoughts on what your supervisorial districts should look like.