Elk Grove prepares to redraw City Council district lines
Published: Monday, May. 16, 2011 - 12:00 am | Page 1B
Elk Grove isn't the small burg it used to be.
The school district, which blankets the city and sprawls to Rancho Cordova, grew into Northern California's largest during the last decade. The auto mall acquired regional status.
And most notable: Elk Grove added about 72,000 residents in the last 10 years, a roughly 90 percent jump, according to the latest U.S. Census Bureau data.
This year, those population changes are the foundation for a dramatic shift in City Council district boundaries. The new lines will accommodate voter-approved changes in how the mayor is to be elected starting in 2012.
The lines also will be shaped in part by a significant growth in Asian American and other minority populations.
Overall, the city's meteoric growth accounted for more than a third of the population increase in Sacramento County since 2000.
It continued a transition that began long before the city incorporated in July 2000, said Councilman Pat Hume.
"Elk Grove was associated much more with agriculture and farming," Hume said. "We were the cowtown within the cowtown. Now it is more urbanized. I think what has attracted people to Elk Grove is the sense of community."
Actually, Elk Grove has more than one distinct community. On the eastern side of Highway 99 is Old Town Elk Grove. To the north, closer to the Sacramento County line, are its most rural residents, many of them with homes on lots of 1 or more acres.
To the west of Highway 99 lies much of the newer growth, including the 2,182- acre Laguna West, which was annexed to the city from unincorporated Sacramento County in 2003.
Throughout the city, many of the new homes purchased at the peak of the market were beset by foreclosures in the latter part of the decade when their values fell far below the amounts owed.
City Councilman Jim Cooper, however, said the city has weathered the worst of the downturn.
The city has a heavy concentration of two-income families, he noted, including many government workers and young athletes who have gained national stature.
On both sides of the freeway, ethnic populations multiplied.
Today, there is a roughly 75 percent chance that any two people chosen at random would be of different ethnic backgrounds, according to census data.
The predominant growth occurred among the Asian American population, which increased 240 percent over the decade to become the second-largest ethnic group in Elk Grove, behind whites.
Those distinct communities, along with other issues that make for cohesive communities, will play a role in the redrawing of council district boundaries.
"This won't be a tweak," said Paul Mitchell of Redistricting Partners, the consultants to Elk Grove on redistricting.
Mitchell said in an interview that strong ethnic population growth has produced substantial "communities of interest."
They may be defined by schools, churches, parks as well as language, race or ethnic background, he said. The aim, while drawing lines, is to not splinter neighborhoods that would otherwise be cohesive.
The neighborhoods "are a natural expression of a community," Mitchell said.
"We are asking the City Council and community members to come up with their own suggestions as to what (areas) should be with what," he said.
The lines also will be drawn to reflect voter approval last fall of Measure K, which calls for four council districts instead of five – starting with the 2012 election.
Starting with that year's council election, mayors will be chosen directly by voters to serve two-year terms. Previously, the five council members selected a mayor each year from among themselves.
The upshot: Councilwoman Sophia Scherman said she expects to be out of a district when the new lines are drawn. Her four-year term from District 5 expires at the end of 2012, no matter how the lines are drawn.
Scherman said she has her eye on a run for state Assembly District 10, held by Alyson Huber, if the redrawing of that district includes Elk Grove. If not, she said, she'll run for Elk Grove mayor.
"One door closes, another door opens," said Scherman.
Redistricting Partners is holding a series of workshops in Elk Grove to encourage residents to share their visions of new district boundaries.
Meetings were held May 6 and Saturday. More are set for Wednesday and next Monday in the council chambers, 8400 Laguna Palms Way, at varying times of the day. The City Council is expected to adopt redrawn boundaries late this year.
Mitchell said that as a practical matter, it's not clear which council member might end up without a district.
In other words, until the new lines are drawn, Scherman may not want to count herself out as an incumbent.
For information about times of redistricting workshops, visit http://www.elkgrovecity.org/ and look on the home page for details about redistricting workshops.
And most notable: Elk Grove added about 72,000 residents in the last 10 years, a roughly 90 percent jump, according to the latest U.S. Census Bureau data.
This year, those population changes are the foundation for a dramatic shift in City Council district boundaries. The new lines will accommodate voter-approved changes in how the mayor is to be elected starting in 2012.
The lines also will be shaped in part by a significant growth in Asian American and other minority populations.
Overall, the city's meteoric growth accounted for more than a third of the population increase in Sacramento County since 2000.
It continued a transition that began long before the city incorporated in July 2000, said Councilman Pat Hume.
"Elk Grove was associated much more with agriculture and farming," Hume said. "We were the cowtown within the cowtown. Now it is more urbanized. I think what has attracted people to Elk Grove is the sense of community."
Actually, Elk Grove has more than one distinct community. On the eastern side of Highway 99 is Old Town Elk Grove. To the north, closer to the Sacramento County line, are its most rural residents, many of them with homes on lots of 1 or more acres.
To the west of Highway 99 lies much of the newer growth, including the 2,182- acre Laguna West, which was annexed to the city from unincorporated Sacramento County in 2003.
Throughout the city, many of the new homes purchased at the peak of the market were beset by foreclosures in the latter part of the decade when their values fell far below the amounts owed.
City Councilman Jim Cooper, however, said the city has weathered the worst of the downturn.
The city has a heavy concentration of two-income families, he noted, including many government workers and young athletes who have gained national stature.
On both sides of the freeway, ethnic populations multiplied.
Today, there is a roughly 75 percent chance that any two people chosen at random would be of different ethnic backgrounds, according to census data.
The predominant growth occurred among the Asian American population, which increased 240 percent over the decade to become the second-largest ethnic group in Elk Grove, behind whites.
Those distinct communities, along with other issues that make for cohesive communities, will play a role in the redrawing of council district boundaries.
"This won't be a tweak," said Paul Mitchell of Redistricting Partners, the consultants to Elk Grove on redistricting.
Mitchell said in an interview that strong ethnic population growth has produced substantial "communities of interest."
They may be defined by schools, churches, parks as well as language, race or ethnic background, he said. The aim, while drawing lines, is to not splinter neighborhoods that would otherwise be cohesive.
The neighborhoods "are a natural expression of a community," Mitchell said.
"We are asking the City Council and community members to come up with their own suggestions as to what (areas) should be with what," he said.
The lines also will be drawn to reflect voter approval last fall of Measure K, which calls for four council districts instead of five – starting with the 2012 election.
Starting with that year's council election, mayors will be chosen directly by voters to serve two-year terms. Previously, the five council members selected a mayor each year from among themselves.
The upshot: Councilwoman Sophia Scherman said she expects to be out of a district when the new lines are drawn. Her four-year term from District 5 expires at the end of 2012, no matter how the lines are drawn.
Scherman said she has her eye on a run for state Assembly District 10, held by Alyson Huber, if the redrawing of that district includes Elk Grove. If not, she said, she'll run for Elk Grove mayor.
"One door closes, another door opens," said Scherman.
Redistricting Partners is holding a series of workshops in Elk Grove to encourage residents to share their visions of new district boundaries.
Meetings were held May 6 and Saturday. More are set for Wednesday and next Monday in the council chambers, 8400 Laguna Palms Way, at varying times of the day. The City Council is expected to adopt redrawn boundaries late this year.
Mitchell said that as a practical matter, it's not clear which council member might end up without a district.
In other words, until the new lines are drawn, Scherman may not want to count herself out as an incumbent.
For information about times of redistricting workshops, visit http://www.elkgrovecity.org/ and look on the home page for details about redistricting workshops.
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