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Extracted from Consolidated Report
This investigation was originally published as part of a larger consolidated report containing multiple investigations. View the consolidated PDF for the complete document.
Score: +6
(6/0/0)
Sonoma County Grand Jury
• 2020-2021
Rohnert Park Election Districts Transition from At-Large to District-Based Elections
⚠️ Translation Notice: This content has been automatically translated. The original English text is the official version. Translation may contain errors.
⚠️ Este contenido ha sido traducido automáticamente. El texto original en inglés es la versión oficial. La traducción puede contener errores.
Findings and Recommendations 7 findings
F1
The Rohnert Park City Council acted in compliance with California law in transitioning to district-based Council elections.
No recommendations for this finding
F2
There is no credible evidence of violations of the Brown Act with regard to non-public communication of the City Council. The Brown Act permits closed-session meetings to discuss litigation.
No recommendations for this finding
F3
The election sequence adopted by the City Council complies with California and federal election law.
No recommendations for this finding
F4
The submission of Map 112 and the City Council’s evaluation of it complied with the California Elections Code.
No recommendations for this finding
F5
The City of Rohnert Park does not monitor or track the ethics training required by California Assembly Bill 1234 of all local agency officials in office on or after January 1, 2007.
Related Recommendations (2)
R1
The City of Rohnert Park establish a procedure to monitor and track ethics training for publicly elected officials as required by California Assembly Bill No. 1234. This should occur by December 31, 2021. (F5)
R2
The City of Rohnert Park notify elected officials of ethics training bi-annual deadlines by December 31, 2021. (F5)
F6
The City Council provided legally sufficient opportunity for the public to submit proposed district maps and to comment on submitted maps.
No recommendations for this finding
F7
Subsequent to the first sequencing election in 2020, but prior to the second sequencing election in 2022, in which the transition from At-Large to District-Based elections as adopted in Ordinance 944 is fully adopted, the City of Rohnert Park will have the results of the 2020 decennial Census and will need to evaluate whether Map 112 still provides representation for demographic groups of interest.
Related Recommendations (1)
R3
The City Council members proactively plan in advance and allocate time in Council Meeting agendas to give the public opportunity for robust and ongoing discussion of any changes to the City’s demographics that need to be addressed when the new Census data is released on September 30, 2021. This should occur by December 31, 2021. (F7)
Conclusions 1
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CL1 Page 8The Grand Jury’s investigation into the City of Rohnert Park’s transition from an at-large to district-based election system confirmed that the City Council met the requirements of the law. The City Council complied with the rules for public notification, public involvement, district demographics and district boundaries. Notably, the City Council held more public meetings than the minimum required, had Spanish translations of pertinent information on the City’s website, had robust public comment and ultimately adopted a citizen-submitted district map. Additionally, the Grand Jury found no evidence of violation of the Brown Act. The Grand Jury found, however, that the circumstances of the threatened litigation drove the City Council’s valid objective to complete the process within the condensed Safe Harbor timeline. This, then, coupled with related closed session discussions, led some to question whether the Council was receptive to public input and whether open meeting rules had been violated. The rapid transition actions are not judged by the Grand Jury to be improper, but they are noted to be unique to this transition, and should be avoided if and when the City revises district boundaries in the future. If the Census demonstrates that redistricting is appropriate, the Grand Jury recommends that the Council take early initiation of the process, with time to propose and debate district boundaries and election sequences. This will help to assure the public that the re- districting activity is fully within the public view and according to rule.
Agency Responses 1
Government agencies' official responses to this report's findings and recommendations. Click on a response to see the structured breakdown.