The Malibu City Council conducted a Special City Council Meeting and Public Hearing on potential by-district elections on March 12, 2020 at City Hall. In an abundance of caution related to the Coronavirus, the second Special Meeting and Public Hearing scheduled for Friday, March 13 at Malibu High School has been cancelled. (View the press release.)
Video of the March 12 meeting, including the demographer’s presentation on four options for potential district maps, can be viewed on-demand in the City website’s Public Meeting Video Archive and YouTube.com/user/CityofMalibu/videos.
Residents are encouraged to submit comments via email to the City Clerk at CityClerk@malibucity.org. All correspondence received will be distributed to the City Council and saved in the record.
The Public Hearings were scheduled to gather input from the public regarding the composition of potential City Council districts and sequencing of elections. It is also an opportunity for the Council to provide direction and guidance to staff and the demographer regarding further drafting and composition of draft maps. Ultimately, the City may ask voters to decide whether to change the way City Councilmembers are elected and the draft maps could create new voter districts for City Council elections.
Background
On January 13, 2020, the Malibu City Council adopted Resolution No. 20-02 directing the retention of a demographer and directing a schedule be brought back to take actions and schedule public hearings related to district-based elections in accordance with Elections Code section 10010(a), and declaring its intention to place a binding initiative on the ballot for the 2020 General Municipal Election as to whether to transition to district-based elections.
This action was in response to a letter sent by Milton C. Grimes of the Law Offices of Milton C. Grimes, which claims the City’s at-large system of voting violates the California Voting Rights Act.
Visit www.malibucity.org/districtelections for additional information, including the proposed voting district maps (under the Draft Maps tab).