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Council to consider switching to district-based elections February 13

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The Mission Viejo City Council on Tuesday, February 13 is expected to decide whether to transition from at-large to district-based council member elections during its fifth public hearing on the matter.

The public hearing begins at 6 p.m. in the Council Chamber at 200 Civic Center.

The hearings, which started late last year, were prompted by a demand letter the City of Mission Viejo received from a Malibu-based law firm claiming the City’s at-large election system dilutes the vote of the Latino community. 
 
Since then, the City has sought public input regarding the composition of the districts; content of draft maps; and the proposed sequence of elections. To simplify the public’s participation, the City created a how-to video for drawing district maps as well as webpages with history and information about the process.
 
Council meetings, which are streamed live at https://cityofmissionviejo.org/stream, take place in the Council Chamber at 200 Civic Center.

Comments

Submitted by Nancy Sandoval on Sat, 02/03/2018 - 5:15 pm

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I am STRONGLY OPPOSED to District Voting, and much prefer AT-LARGE voting as we currently have. I like having a say on all of the City Council Members, not just one. Our city is not that big where it is warranted. And, I have not seen that it is justified due to discrimination of any kind, in our community. It is already difficult to find solid, well-qualified candidates who are WILLING to run for City Council. Once that is broken down into districts, that will multiply the difficulty. We need THE BEST to run from our entire city. RESIST ANY PRESSURE TO MAKE THIS CHANGE. I urge a NO VOTE on District Voting.

Submitted by Tina Mowrer on Fri, 01/26/2018 - 6:00 pm

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I do not see the need for this in Mission Viejo. We are not a huge city and people of different beliefs and backgrounds seem to live in many areas. We should try to as one and strive for what is best for the city and not individual interest groups. It is a waste of time and money.

Submitted by Penny Lehrer on Sat, 01/27/2018 - 1:43 pm

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We do not need to district our maps. People running for office under the current system works. The current system allows anyone to run for office,as it should be.

Submitted by Cathy Schlicht on Thu, 02/01/2018 - 2:40 pm

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In the beginning, I was opposed to district based voting. I had wanted the right to vote for five council members.

But after a lot thought, I am now in strong support of District Based Voting.

My #1 reason is that I believe district voting will restore accountability. It seems all too often that once a council member takes office, they tend to cater to the needs of special interest and will only turn their attention to the public during election time. With districts, it will be election time all the time.

We will return to a citizen based council instead of a city council tending to their own personal agendas, that we have all witnessed and experienced with At Large elections.

Imagine having five council members directly accountable to their voters – that is what District Based Voting will bring back to Mission Viejo.

Submitted by Lynda Zimmer on Fri, 01/26/2018 - 10:50 am

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I do not think we need district-based council member elections. I have lived in Mission Viejo for 20 years. My street is very diverse and has always been this way. I do not think we have pockets for ethnic people. I think this is a waste of time and would only encourage polarization, not better representation.

Submitted by Mary Hugar on Fri, 02/02/2018 - 9:20 am

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As it stands now,each council member acts based what they believe are the best interests of the city as a whole. If district based, they will be obligated to represent the interests of their district ("election time all the time") perhaps not always the same as those of the city as a whole. We only have to look at our state and federal governments to see how well that system works.

It seems to me that we have five council members concerned about the needs of all the voters;the state of our city seems to confirm that.

Submitted by Phil T on Fri, 01/26/2018 - 5:45 pm

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Since we're being forced, it seems to me that TULLY_G or MOORE-L are the most logical boundaries. Geographical proximity grouping has the best chance of grouping people with common interests. The other plans look contrived to reflect some sort of racial or economic bias in the districting. Geographic proximity is the only fair and unbiased method for drawing the districts.

Submitted by James R Grissom on Sun, 02/04/2018 - 11:22 am

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I do not support district based elections. I have not noticed that any particular geographical part of this city has been disadvantaged in any particular way since this community became a city many years ago. I prefer that each council member continue to represent and be accountable to, the interests of all residents of the city. I am concerned that divisions may occur on the council as members just listen to the loudest or most persistent residents of what they will come to consider "their' district.

Submitted by Carole W/Casta… on Mon, 02/05/2018 - 4:25 pm

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Mission Viejo does not need district based voting, nor do we need a Malibu law firm to dictate that we move to districts where we can only vote for the candidate in "our" district. The suggestion is ridiculous. The current "at-large" method of election for City Council members is by far the most fair for the entire City population, with each Council member being responsible for the entire City issues, not just their smaller "district.

Submitted by Phil Lauterjung on Fri, 01/26/2018 - 9:00 am

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I do not see a burning need for something like this since we don't have a problem to begin with. This seems to be a solution in search of a problem that doesn't exist. I am sure that our city council would want to avoid a lawsuit, but we don't have a problem. In addition, why are they only worried about the Latino vote? What about the Asian vote, or the Black vote, or the Middle Eastern vote? I could go on and on, but the bottom line is this is nothing more than an attempted shake down of our city and we shouldn't allow someone in Malibu to dictate how we vote. Our current voting system works just fine!