Redistricting for City of Chico

Get involved: we will live with this decision for 10 years and 5 election cycles!

Unless you are living under a rock or had your Facebook account locked, you know that the City of Chico is in the process of redrawing the district election maps based on the 2020 census. The maps finally approved will be with us for the next 10 years.

The process must conclude by April 5th. You can refer to the City website here for all the information you need: https://chico.ca.us/homepage-redirect-not-included-search/redistricting-process-notice-public-hearing-3

At last night’s meeting (3/15/22) the council approved 5 maps to be brought forward at a special meeting on the 29th.  The special meeting is required to meet the April 5 deadline.

Public input has been surprisingly sparse. 

The 5 maps going forward are Demographer maps 4 and 5, public maps 2-Goldstein 1000, 6-Help People Vote, and 7-Heart of Chico.

One of the most important criteria for drawing district maps is what the Voting Act calls “Communities of Interest”.  That is a vague term, but the council has identified several including:

“The Avenues”, Barber, Chapman, the east ridge most impacted by fire, the Highway 32/Nord corridor, Marion Park, Student Housing, Rancheria, Cal Park, Meriam Park, Pleasant Valley, Amber Grove, and Lower Bidwell.

Visit the website above, play around with the maps, and send your comments to:  RedistrictingEmails@chicoca.gov (copy/paste)

For me, I favor Demographer’s map 4 and Public map 6-Help People Vote. The reasons are that map 4 keeps the communities of interest most whole, and map 6 creates an eastern district that is most vulnerable to ridge fires. 

There are two meetings left, one special meeting tentatively planned for March 29, and the final approval meeting on April 5.

Don’t let this go by without giving your input.