Much of the Hill moves into District 4 in 2023

The Riverside County Board of Supervisors voted to adopt boundaries (Map F) for the supervisorial districts beginning with next spring’s primary election and the November general election.

The vote was 4-1 with Supervisor Manuel Perez (District 4) the opposing vote.

In future elections, Pine Cove, Idyllwild, Mountain Center and Garner Valley to just south of Lake Hemet will be in District 4, which will extend east to the Colorado River from the county’s northern and southern borders. It is the largest in size of the five districts.

Other Hill communities, Anza, Sage, Aguanga and Lake Riverside, are remaining in District 3, as well as most of the west side of Garner Valley.

At its Dec. 14 meeting, unless a last-minute change of opinion occurred, the board was to vote to approve the resolution legally setting the new boundaries for the districts. Before the action on the new districts, the supervisors did unanimously repeal Ordinance 813, which established the current boundaries in August 2001.

The Executive Office Technical Committee (EOTC) presented the board with the three priority maps that the Advisory Redistricting Committee had recommended. The EOTC did offer a fourth map that was an adjustment of Map H to accommodate public concern about the Gavilan Hill neighborhood near Lake Mathews. The alternative map moved about 1,500 residents from District 2 into District 3, according to Tom Mullen of the EOTC.

When the supervisors began their discussion, it quickly replaced version 7.2 of Map H with the revision moving Gavilan Hills.

They then discussed which of the three maps was the least favored in order to limit the decision to one of two maps.

Supervisor Chuck Washington (District 3) summarized the differences between maps F and H. One of the decision criteria the EOTC legal staff has frequently presented to the supervisors urged geographic compactness of districts. This criterion discourages passing some communities in favor of more distant populations.

He felt that Map H did bypass Menifee, placing it as an extension to District 5, in order to place Temescal Valley and Lake Elsinore in District 3.

“I listened to the folks in support of H,” Washington said. “But I have a hard time supporting that. There’s no perfect map, but I can eliminate H.” He then moved to do that.

The vote to eliminate H was 3-2. Supervisors Kevin Jeffries and Jeff Hewitt were opposed.

Then the discussion focused on Map F and the Community Map that established one more minority-majority district. Nevertheless, EOTC counsel Ronak Patel assured the board that, in his opinion, each of the two maps satisfied the Voting Rights Act.

Perez made a fervent argument in favor of the Community Map. He felt that map was the only one that satisfactorily met the criteria of the Voting Rights Act. Choosing another map would lead to litigation over the boundaries.

Perez moved to adopt Community Map 1.4. After waiting nearly 30 seconds, Supervisor Karen Spiegel, chair, let the motion die for the lack of a second. She then made the motion to approve Map F that Jeffries seconded, and it was approved 4-1.

On Friday, in an email to the Town Crier, Washington opined on the entire redistricting process. “Despite the short time frame within which we had to operate, Riverside County completed the process in a transparent and inclusive way. The county held numerous public hearings to gather input and followed all applicable laws governing the redistricting process.”

This was the sixth public hearing on how to redistrict the county following the 2020 census. Prior to the board discussion beginning, 65 members of the public addressed the board about the redistricting choices. They either attended the meeting or called in to speak by phone.

Now, this is where it gets complicated. The redistricting will take effect 30 days after the board’s Dec. 14 vote. However, because the current districts elected their supervisors, the changes don’t officially take effect until a new supervisor or an incumbent supervisor is seated in their district. Washington’s term doesn’t end until the end of 2024. Perez’s term ends at the end of 2022 and he has not said if he will run again.

What this means is that the Hill communities moving into District 4 will remain in District 3 in 2022 because they did not elect Perez. However, any communities moving into a new district are considered in the new district for purposes of voting for a supervisor. So, the Hill communities will be voting for the District 4 supervisor in the 2022 election but not for the District 3 supervisor in the 2024 election.

The following years, 2023 and 2024, those communities will essentially be in both districts, supervised by both Washington and the District 4 supervisor until 2025 because those communities elected both supervisors.

However, Washington is making the transition of no longer supervising the Hill beginning in 2023. “In June,” he said, “residents will have the opportunity to cast their vote for a new [District 4] representative. Once the new representative is sworn in at the end of 2022, those communities will be wholly represented by the Four4thFourth District supervisor. My staff and I will continue to assist the Four4thFourth District supervisor and staff until they feel comfortable with the transition.”

As Washington’s time serving Idyllwild and the Hill comes to an end in 2022, when the Hill will vote for a District 4 supervisor, he shared his thoughts about that.

“I have grown fond of every area of my district, but my wife and I feel as though we have been adopted by Idyllwild and the mountain communities, and so they have a special place in our hearts,” he wrote in the email. “I want to see the area continue to thrive, which is why I have volunteered to accompany the Fourth District supervisor to the area to introduce him to the people and businesses that make the area great.”