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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2017.05.08 Council Special Meeting PacketSpecial Meeting AGENDA PASCO CITY COUNCIL 7:00 p.m. May 8, 2017 Page 1. CALL TO ORDER: 2. ROLL CALL: (a) Pledge of Allegiance 3. ORDINANCES AND RESOLUTIONS NOT RELATING TO HEARINGS: 2 - 14 (a) Council Voting Districts MOTION: I move to adopt Ordinance No. 4346, amending Chapter 1.10 of the Pasco Municipal Code regarding Voting Districts and, further, authorize publication by summary only. 4. ADJOURNMENT. Page 1 of 14 AGENDA REPORT FOR: City Council May 4, 2017 TO: Dave Zabell, City Manager Special Meeting: 5/8/17 FROM: Stan Strebel, Deputy City Manager Executive SUBJECT: Council Voting Districts I. REFERENCE(S): Court Approved Map (Mission 8) Proposed Map Changes Proposed Revised Map Proposed Ordinance Proposed County Precinct Map (approved by Court order 5/4/17) Court Order, dated 5/4/17 II. ACTION REQUESTED OF COUNCIL / STAFF RECOMMENDATIONS: MOTION: I move to adopt Ordinance No. 4346, amending Chapter 1.10 of the Pasco Municipal Code regarding Voting Districts and, further, authorize publication by summary only. III. FISCAL IMPACT: IV. HISTORY AND FACTS BRIEF: NOTE: on May 4, Judge Suko approved the motion to revise the City's Council District Boundary Map and ordered implementation of the revised map as attached hereto. Following the Federal Court's approval of the City's proposed Council District Plan, Mission 8, in late January, staff provided a copy to the County Auditor for a determination as to whether the Auditor would be able to revise voting precincts to accommodate the new districts or if splits in precincts (as created by the Court ordered plan) would remain to work around. The Auditor has a number of considerations to make in addition to balancing the number of registered voters. These include the ability to draw discernable boundary Page 2 of 14 lines for districts for state legislative seats as well as those for County Commissioners, PUD Directors, etc. As staff recently met with the Auditor's staff to review the results of their analysis, it was reported that, with a few small adjustments to the adopted Pasco Council District boundaries, the Auditor could align voting precincts and the necessary district boundary lines for the several elected officials without the need to have split precincts going forward. With the ability to describe the City Council Districts in terms of precinct numbers, the City's ordinance which describes boundaries is greatly simplified and there is much less prospect for error or misunderstanding. In order to facilitate the Auditor’s efforts in realigning precincts, four minimal changes are suggested: 1. Precinct 25. This precinct has been bisected by I-182. The north portion of the precinct contains only the small golf course on Port of Pasco property. There are no residential properties located in this portion of the precinct. The demographers who prepared the Mission 8 map included the north portion of the precinct, above the interstate, in District 3 and the south portion in District 5 in order to show cleaner boundaries. Maintaining the golf course property in District 5 will assist the Auditor with precinct/boundary lines and will have no effect on voters in the City. 2. A small piece of residential property, 10 lots, has historically been in precinct 1. Located east of Cedar Avenue and north of Highland Street, the parcel was split into two different census blocks before it was developed. This resulted in the demographer using the census boundary to draw the Mission 8 map even though now, with development of the property into residential units, the census boundary cuts through houses and lots. The most logical solution is to shift this small neighborhood into District 2. The population and registered voter shift represented by 10 homes is insignificant; however, the neighborhood will, following the shift, be in the same district as virtually the entire balance of its larger neighborhood. This shift will also assist the Auditor with its precinct and boundary lines. 3. Kahlotus Highway. This property was part of a fairly recent annexation, is zoned industrial and contains no residential properties. The demographer drew a line to include the area in District 3, using the natural boundary of the Kahlotus Highway. The Auditor relies upon a precinct boundary line along Dietrich Road to better define boundaries for other jurisdictions. Moving this parcel from District 3 to District 2 will have no effect on voters in the City. 4. Donut Hole--Precinct, city limit lines and census block differences. The Auditor has maintained voting precincts in and around the so-called donut hole to identify in-City voters and unincorporated area voters. City annexations do not typically follow precinct lines but are usually drawn along street or property lines. Minor boundary discrepancies with City limits/districts, census blocks and precincts can be seen in this general area in the Mission 8 map which was Page 3 of 14 developed using census block boundaries. The proposed corrections provide for precinct realignment in light of recently revised City limit lines, due to annexation. No voters are moved from the District originally designated, the lines are merely drawn to correspond together accurately. As indicated earlier, the ability to describe Council Districts by precinct greatly simplifies the City's ordinance which establishes district boundaries. The attached, proposed Ordinance incorporates new district descriptions based on the new precincts. The County Commission gave approval to the new precincts on April 26. Council will recall that the Federal Court retained jurisdiction in the case with the ACLU until 45 days after certification of the results of the 2017 election. Last week, the City Attorney received concurrence of the ACLU regarding the proposed changes. A joint petition to the Court is currently pending and we are waiting for the anticipated approval of the Court soon. In the event that formal approval has not been received by the meeting of May 1, it may be wise to postpone the formal adoption until May 8. V. DISCUSSION: The district boundary maps which are (and have been for several weeks) on the City's website are 99.9% accurate. There is only the possibility that from 10-20 voters in the entire City could plan to file for election, only to find out that the district in which they thought they resided was different than previously shown. This item was discussed at the April 24 Workshop meeting and at the May 1 Business meeting. Page 4 of 14 001 002 008 058 004 049 039 102 032 047 062 041 037 059 013 046 067 066 051 048 036 017 040 065 003 063 018 045 023 006 035 050 024 022 055 015 012 016020 031 005 056 053 026 044 027 033 043 057 019 052 025 007 034 011 038 029 054 042 009 021 014010 060 030 028 Precinct 1 2 3 4 5 6 Pasco Mission 8 Precinct Map P a g e 5 o f 1 4 Ci t y o f P a s c o C o u n c i l D i s t r i c t s Ap r i l 2 0 1 7 Pr o p o s e d C h a n g e s Co u n c i l V o t i n g D i s t r i c t s : Pa s c o C o u n c i l D i s t r i c t 1 Pa s c o C o u n c i l D i s t r i c t 2 Pa s c o C o u n c i l D i s t r i c t 3 Pa s c o C o u n c i l D i s t r i c t 4 Pa s c o C o u n c i l D i s t r i c t 5 Pa s c o C o u n c i l D i s t r i c t 6 1) M o v e G o l f C o u r s e Dr i v i n g R a n g e ( n o re g i s t e r e d v o t e r s ) fr o m D i s t r i c t 3 t o Di s t r i c t 5 . 3) Move Industrial Area (no registered voters) from District 3 to District 2.2) Move 10 residential parcels from District 3 to District 2. 4) N O T E : C o u n c i l Di s t r i c t 5 B o u n d a r i e s to a l i g n w i t h C i t y L i m i t Li n e s , r a t h e r t h a n 20 1 0 C E N S U S B l o c k s Page 6 of 14 Pr o p o s e d C i t y o f P a s c o C o u n c i l D i s t r i c t s Ap r i l 2 0 1 7 Co u n c i l V o t i n g D i s t r i c t s : Pa s c o C o u n c i l D i s t r i c t 1 Pa s c o C o u n c i l D i s t r i c t 2 Pa s c o C o u n c i l D i s t r i c t 3 Pa s c o C o u n c i l D i s t r i c t 4 Pa s c o C o u n c i l D i s t r i c t 5 Pa s c o C o u n c i l D i s t r i c t 6 Page 7 of 14 ORDINANCE NO. 4346 AN ORDINANCE of the City of Pasco, Washington amending Chapter 1.10 of the Pasco Municipal Code regarding “Voting Districts.” WHEREAS, The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Washington, in March 2016, notified the City that it believed the City’s then election system violated the federal Voting Rights Act (VRA); and WHEREAS, following a lawsuit filed by the ACLU, the City and ACLU jointly entered a proposed a “Partial Consent Decree” which identified the likely violation of the VRA and sought to establish jurisdiction of the Federal Court to order an appropriate remedy to address the violation; and WHEREAS, on September 2, 2016 Judge Lonny Suko of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Washington granted the Partial Consent Decree thereby ordering that the City must, in order to remedy a violation of Section 2 of the Federal Voting Rights Act, implement a new election system; and WHEREAS, the City Council held, after due notice, a public hearing on September 6 to take comments and evaluate the options for district-based voting and the Council determined that the six-district/one at-large alternative was preferred due to its providing three Latino citizen voter-age majority districts, the same number as possible under the ACLU’s preferred seven district plan; and WHEREAS, on October 3, 2016, the City Council held, after due notice, a public hearing on the six-district plan boundary alternatives, to receive and consider public comment on the alternative boundary plans; and WHEREAS, the Council, after due and deliberate consideration, adopted Ordinance No. 4315, establishing a six-district/one at-large plan for City Council elections; and WHEREAS, on January 27, 2017 Judge Suko issued an order approving the City Council election plan as submitted; and WHEREAS, the Franklin County Auditor, in order to efficiently conduct elections for several jurisdictions where each jurisdiction contains a number of district boundaries, has requested that minor adjustments be made to Pasco’s City Council District boundaries, in order to simplify and minimize disruption in the boundaries for districts in other jurisdictions in the creation of the voting precincts essential to the conduct of elections; and WHEREAS, the City Council has determined that the adjustments affect only a limited number of potential voters and maintain the intent and purpose of the six -district/one at-large plan as approved by the Federal Court; and WHEREAS, in the January 27, 2017 order, Judge Suko retained the Court’s jurisdiction over the City’s voting districts until 45 days after certification of the November 2017 election results; and Page 8 of 14 WHEREAS, the City and the ACLU have jointly petitioned the Court for approval of the district boundary adjustments requested by the County Auditor; and WHEREAS, on May 4, 2017 Judge Suko issued an order directing the substitution of the revised district map and implementation thereof; NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PASCO, WASHINGTON, DOES ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS: Section 1. That Section 1.10.020 entitled “District One” of the Pasco Municipal Code, shall be and hereby is amended to read as follows: 1.10.020 DISTRICT ONE. Voting district one shall encompass the area within the City of Pasco comprised of precinct numbers five, nine, ten, fourteen and fifteen (5, 9, 10, 14 and 15); as those precincts are described on the maps and property descriptions on file with the Auditor of Franklin County. Section 2. That Section 1.10.030 entitled “District Two” of the Pasco Municipal Code, shall be and hereby is amended to read as follows: 1.10.030 DISTRICT TWO. Voting district two shall encompass the area within the City of Pasco comprised of precinct numbers two, three, thirteen, seventeen and eighteen (2, 3, 13, 17 and 18); as those precincts are described on the maps and property descriptions on file with the Auditor of Franklin County. Section 3. That Section 1.10.040 entitled “District Three” of the Pasco Municipal Code, shall be and hereby is amended to read as follows: 1.10.040 DISTRICT THREE. Voting district three shall encompass the area within the City of Pasco comprised of precinct numbers one, eight, twenty-two, twenty-three, twenty-four, thirty-two, thirty-three, thirty-four, thirty-five, thirty-seven, thirty-eight, thirty-nine, forty-two, forty-three, forty-four and one-hundred and two (1, 8, 22, 23, 24, 32, 33, 34, 35, 37, 38, 39, 42, 43, 44 and 102); as those precincts are described on the maps and property descriptions on file with the Auditor of Franklin County. Section 4. That Section 1.10.050 entitled “District Four” of the Pasco Municipal Code, shall be and hereby is amended to read as follows: 1.10.050 DISTRICT FOUR. Voting district four shall encompass the area within the City of Pasco comprised of precinct numbers forty, forty-five, forty-six, forty-seven, fifty, fifty-one fifty-two, fifty-three, fifty-four and fifty-five (40, 45, 46, 47, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, and 55); as those precincts are described on the maps and property descriptions on file with the Auditor of Franklin County. Section 6. That Section 1.10.060 entitled “District Five” of the Pasco Municipal Code, shall be and hereby is amended to read as follows: Page 9 of 14 1.10.060 DISTRICT FIVE. Voting district five shall encompass the area within the City of Pasco comprised of precinct numbers nineteen, twenty, twenty-one, twenty-five, twenty-six, twenty-seven, twenty-eight, twenty-nine, thirty, thirty-one, thirty-six, forty-one, forty-eight, forty-nine, fifty-six, fifty-seven, fifty-eight, fifty-nine, sixty, sixty-two, sixty-three, sixty-five, sixty-six, and sixty-seven (19, 20, 21, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 36, 41, 48, 49, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 62, 63, 65, 66 and 67); as those precincts are described on the maps and property descriptions on file with the Auditor of Franklin County. Section 7. That Section 1.10.070 entitled “District Six” of the Pasco Municipal Code, shall be and hereby is amended to read as follows: 1.10.070 DISTRICT SIX. Voting district six shall encompass the area within the City of Pasco comprised of precinct numbers four, six, seven, eleven, twelve and sixteen (4, 6, 7, 11, 12 and 16); as those precincts are described on the maps and property descriptions on file with the Auditor of Franklin County. Section 8. This ordinance shall take full force and effect five days after its approval, passage and publication as required by law. PASSED by the City Council of the City of Pasco, Washington, and approved as provided by law this 8th day of May, 2017. Matt Watkins, Mayor ATTEST: APPROVED AS TO FORM: Sandy Kenworthy, Interim City Clerk Leland B. Kerr, City Attorney Page 10 of 14 W C O U R T S T W C O U R T S T BU R N S R D I - 1 8 2 ROAD 100 I -1 8 2 BU R N S R D D E N T R D B Y E R S R D I R I S L N DE N T R D R I C H V I E W E A S Y S T ROAD 68 WE R N E T T R D ROAD 44 I -1 8 2BU R D E N B L V D SA N D I F U R P K W Y U S 3 9 5 L E W I S S T SY L V E S T E R S T I -1 8 2 WE R N E T T R D I- 1 8 2 20TH AVE A S T O R E G O N A V E W C O U R T S T 4TH AVE R A I L R O A D A V E U S 3 9 5 CAPITAL AVE R O A D 6 8 T A Y L O R CL A R K R D G L A D E N O R T H R D R A I L R O A D A V E U S 3 9 5 LEWIS STUS 1 2DIETRICH RD P A S CO KA H L O T U S R D S R I -1 8 2ALDERSON R DPASCO KA HE FOSTER WELLS RDBLASDEL RDVOSS #4 9 #6 7 #5 9 #6 0 #5 7 #6 8 #5 8 #6 6 #5 4 #5 6#5 2 #5 5 #5 3 #5 1 #6 5 #4 8 #6 4 #4 1 #6 3 #6 2 #1 0 3 #4 7 #1 0 4 #4 6 #4 5 #4 0 #3 9 #1 0 2 #4 4 #4 3 #4 2 #6 9 #3 8 #5 0 #3 7 #3 1 #3 6 #2 9 #3 0 #2 8 #6 1 #2 7 #2 6 #2 5 #2 1 #1 7 #1 8 #2 0 #1 9 #1 5 #1 6 #3 5 #3 4 #2 4 #3 3 #2 3 #2 2 #1 2 #1 3 #7 #1 1 #1 0 #1 4 #6 #9 #4 #5 #3 2 #7 3 #8 #7 0 #7 2 #1 #2#3 Fr a n k l i n C o u n t y R e g i o n a l I n f o r m a t i o n S y s t e m 10 1 6 N o r t h 4 t h A v e n u e Pa s c o , W a s h i n g t o n 9 9 3 0 1 Te l e p h o n e : ( 5 0 9 ) 5 4 5 - 3 5 8 5 F a x : ( 5 0 9 ) 5 4 6 - 5 8 7 1 DA T E P R I N T E D ht t p : / / w w w . c o . f r a n k l i n . w a . u s gi s @ c o . f r a n k l i n . w a . u s DI S C L A I M E R A N D T E R M S O F U S E : A l l i n f o r m a t i o n d e p i c t e d h e r e i n i s p r o v i d e d a s - is , w i t h n o w a r r a n t y , e x p r e s s e d o r i m p l i e d . N o g u a ra n t e e o f in f o r m a t i o n u s a b i l i t y , a c c u r a c y o r s u i t a b i l i t y i s i nf e r r e d , i m p l i e d , o r e x p r e s s e d . N e i t h e r F r a n k l i n C ou n t y Re g i o n a l I n f o r m a t i o n S y s t e m ( F R I S ) , n o r an y m e m b e r a g e n c y , s h a l l b e l i a b l e f o r a n y e r r o r o r e r r o r s w i t h i n , o r im p l i e d b y , t h e p r o v i d e d i n f o r m a t i o n . F R I S a n d i t s me m b e r a g e n c i e s s h a l l b e h e l d h a r m l e s s f o r a n y l o s s , di r e c t o r i n d i r e c t , i m m e d i a t e o r s u b s e q u e n t , r e l a t e d t o t h e u s e o f t h i s i n f o r m a t i o n o r a n y i n f o r m a t i o n d e r i v e d fr o m t h i s i n f o r m a t i o n . Th i s p r e s e n t a t i o n i s C o p y r i g h t 2 0 1 1 , F R I S , A l l R i g h ts R e s e r v e d . PR E L I M I N A R Y V O T I N G P R E C I N C T S LE G E N D VO T I N G P R E C I N C T S Co u n c i l D i s t r i c t 1 Co u n c i l D i s t r i c t 2 Co u n c i l D i s t r i c t 3 Co u n c i l D i s t r i c t 4 Co u n c i l D i s t r i c t 5 Co u n c i l D i s t r i c t 6 Page 11 of 14 ..0 •' ' ... 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Case 4:16-cv-05108-LRS Document 47 Filed 05/04/17 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT EASTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON BERTHA ARANDA GLATT, Plaintiff, Case No. 4:16-CV-05108-LRS v. 8 CITY OF PASCO, eta/., ORDER MODIFYING JANUARY 27, 2017 MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER TO SUBSTITUTE REVISED REMEDIAL PLAN MAP AND DIRECTING ENTRY OF AMENDED JUDGMENT 9 10 Defendants. 11 BEFORE THE COURT is are the jointly filed Motions (ECF Nos. 43, 45) of 12 the parties requesting the court's expedited hearing and exercise of its continuing 13 jurisdiction to modify the Memorandum Opinion and Order, and Judgment entered 14 15 16 17 18 on January 27, 2017. The court is fully advised in the premises having reviewed the Motions and the record. ACCORDINGLY, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that: 1. The parties Joint Motion to Expedite (ECF No. 43) and Joint Motion for 19 Minor Modification to Memorandum Opinion and Order Re: Remedial Plan Map to 20 Accommodate Minor Changes Requested by the Franklin County Auditor (ECF No. 21 45) are GRANTED. 22 23 24 ORDER-I Page 12 of 14 .~ Case 4 :16-cv-05108-LRS Document 47 Filed 05/04/17 1 2. The court herein modifies page 48, paragraph 2 of its January 27, 2017 2 Memorandum Opinion and Order to approve, as a remedy for the § 2 violation, the 3 City Council District Map {April 2017) attached to this Order as Exhibit A. The 4 5 Voting District Map attached to the January 27, 2017 decision at Appendix A, page 1 ("City's Proposed Plan"), shall be modified by substitution of the City Council 6 7 District Map (April 20 I 7), as attached to this Order as Exhibit A . 8 2. The Clerk of the Court shall enter an Amended Judgment modifying the 9 last sentence of the first section of the Judgment entered January 27,2017 ("other:") 10 to read: "See ECF Nos. 40, 47." I 1 I2 13 I4 3. All the remaining tenns and conditions of the Memorandum Opinion and Order, and the Amended Judgment shall remain in full force and effect. 4. The City of Pasco is ordered to take all steps necessary to substitute and 15 implement the attached revised voting district map as part of the plan approved by 16 the court on January 27,2017. 17 The District Court Executive is hereby directed to enter this Order, enter the 18 Amended Judgment as directed in paragraph 2, and provide copies to counsel. 19 20 21 22 23 24 DATED THIS 4th day ofMay, 2017. s/Lonny R. Suko LONNY R . SUKO SENIOR U .S. DISTRICT COURT JUDGE ORDER-2 Page 13 of 14 Case 4:16-cv-05 108 -LRS Docume n t 47-1 File d 05/04/17 Council Voting Districts: Pu.:.a • .,.:Jl C\!r .:' Proposed City of Pasco Council Dis tricts (I' . .r~A;;:_.i rr - 111 April2017 P lo,--....... Page 14 of 14