SAN MARCOS, CA (January 7, 2022) — The Palomar College Governing Board will seek public comment regarding the redistricting of its Trustee Areas during a series of virtual meetings on Saturday, January 29, 2022.
Following the publication of 2020 Census data, the Palomar Community College District (PCCD or District) is legally required to adjust the boundaries of its Trustee Areas to ensure an “reasonably equal” distribution of voters in each district. “This process will allow us to ensure that the District’s Governing Board elections remains fair and our voters in every community are adequately represented,” said Palomar College Superintendent/President Dr. Star Rivera-Lacey.
The District will host four virtual meetings to receive public comment on January 29—one for those living near the main San Marcos campus and one for each of the three education centers in Escondido, Rancho Bernardo and Fallbrook.
Most notably, the 2020 Census revealed an 18 percent variance between the most populous and least populous Trustee Areas, with the population in Trustee Area 1 growing by 22 percent since the previous census. The PCCD held its first trustee-area election in November 2020.
Currently:
• Trustee Mark Evilsizer represents Area 1, including most of the district south of Highway 78 and west of I-15;
• Trustee Christian Garcia represents Area 2, encompassing most of Escondido and the eastern third of the Highway 78 corridor;
• Vice President Roberto Rodriguez represents Area 3, which includes much of Vista, stretches across unincorporated land north of Escondido and extends along the eastern side of Interstate 15 as far south as Poway;
• Board Secretary Kartik Raju represents Area 4, a sprawling district extending from I-15 east to near the Salton Sea;
• And Board President Norma Miyamoto represents Trustee Area 5, including Fallbrook, Bonsall, east Oceanside and Camp Pendleton.
The board established criteria to guide the redistricting process consistent with legal requirements with the unanimous approval of Resolution 21-21615 on December 7, 2021. Those criteria consist of the following:
1. Each trustee area shall contain a nearly equal number of inhabitants;
2. Trustee area borders shall be drawn in a manner that complies with the Federal Voting Rights Act;
3. Trustee areas shall consist of contiguous territory in as compact a form as possible given the other criteria set forth herein;
4. Trustee area borders shall respect communities of interest as much as possible;
5. Trustee area borders shall consider jurisdictional boundaries as much as possible;
6. Trustee area borders shall attempt to avoid head-to-head contests between incumbent members of the Board insofar as this does not conflict with federal or state law; and
7. Trustee areas known to be areas of higher-than-average population growth in the two to five years following the establishment of trustee areas, may be underpopulated within the population deviation amounts allowed by law.
More information about the PCCD’s Trustee Areas and the redistricting process can be accessedhere.
