City to study redistricting of council districts

During the next three months, the City of Tehachapi will be holding redistricting meetings for the five City Council districts according to state requirements. Cities and counties from all over the country will also be realigning their government districts. Redistricting studies are required every 10 years or when there is a census as there was in 2020. These districts must be redrawn so that each Council district is substantially equal in population.

The City has hired USgeocoder to conduct the redistricting studies and their representative, Mitchell Pearce, appeared before the Tehachapi City Council on Jan. 18 to describe the process for redrawing the district maps and demonstrate how their online program can be used by the public to make their own redistricting suggestions. He will be returning to City Council on Feb. 7 to present his draft of the district maps.

A public workshop will be held on Feb. 10 at the Police Department Community Room at 6 p.m. to instruct the public on how to use the program and submit their ideas for realigning Tehachapi's council districts. Everyone is encouraged to bring a laptop and Wi-Fi will be provided. The public will have 20 days to work with the program and submit their maps to the City.

The first reading of the final maps will be at the March 21 City Council meeting. The second and final vote will will be at the April 4 Council meeting.

The Tehachapi City Council meets on the first and third Monday of the month at 6 p.m. They are currently meeting at the Police Department Community Room, 220 W. C St.