The Alameda County Board of Supervisors has adopted new supervisorial districts following six months of engagement with the public. The board accepted the final map Dec. 14 amid disagreement over whether communities are served better by one or multiple representatives on the board.
The supervisors received conflicting testimony from the public over the issue, but they opted to have some communities served by more than one supervisor.
“Having all the unincorporated residents in one district simply does not serve them better because the growing disparities that so many face within our county are often amplified within the unincorporated area,” Supervisor Nate Miley said in a statement.
“These residents are best served when they have more than one elected voice on the Board of Supervisors,” Miley said.
The unincorporated areas now have three supervisors representing them.
Two supervisors will represent the urban unincorporated areas of Castro Valley, Ashland, Cherryland, Fairview and San Lorenzo. San Lorenzo will be represented by Dave Brown in District 3 with San Leandro.
Brown fills the seat vacated by Supervisor Wilma Chan, who was killed in a collision earlier this year in Alameda. Brown was Chan’s chief of staff before being chosen for the board.
“The new map reflects the values of this county. The county’s core function is to address poverty through health and human services.” Supervisor Richard Valle
Castro Valley, Ashland, Cherryland and Fairview will be represented by Miley who serves District 4.
Key changes to the map show Centerville now fully in District 1, represented by David Haubert. Centerville is a Fremont neighborhood, which has one of the largest U.S. communities of people from Afghanistan.
All the unincorporated area known as Sunol is now represented by Haubert. The Laurel district in Oakland and Palomares Road in the unincorporated areas are fully represented by Miley.
The Fruitvale neighborhood in Oakland is now fully in District 3 while the Glenview and Dimond neighborhoods of Oakland are fully in Supervisor Keith Carson’s District 5.
“The new map reflects the values of this county,” Supervisor Richard Valle said in a statement. “The county’s core function is to address poverty through health and human services.
“Redistricting is a constitutionally required process for equal and fair representation. My focus throughout the process was to ensure the pockets of poverty in our county were fairly represented.”
The supervisors heard from the public through many ways of communication such as online comments, email, and letters. Drawings were received from certain communities as were maps drawn by members of the public. Hundreds of county residents shared their ideas.
Oakland will wrap up its redistricting process by the end of the year. Also, by the end of the year, the state will conclude its redistricting of congressional and state legislative seats.