Santa Maria and Guadalupe high school students wearing MICOP and CAUSE shirts gathered in the Betteravia Government Center on Nov. 3, waiting until 9 p.m. to speak on behalf of a redistricting map that they said could benefit Latinos, immigrants, and persons of color in Santa Barbara County.
The United Communities Map proposes that the county’s 5th District unites Santa Maria, Guadalupe, and Tanglewood, CAUSE (Central Coast Alliance United for a Sustainable Economy) wrote in a public comment letter to the county’s Independent Redistricting Commission.
“By uniting communities that have historically been divided to dilute power, the United Communities Map addresses the core goal of this independent process,” the letter stated. “This map is based on ‘communities of interest,’ linking areas connected through shared social demographics, economic sectors, and environmental features.”
For several months, CAUSE and 10 other Santa Barbara County-based advocacy organizations representing broad interests including immigrant rights, education, worker’s rights, racial justice, and women’s rights to consider the map’s formation, the letter continued.
Putting Guadalupe and Santa Maria in one district creates a Latino super majority, CAUSE Policy Advocate Rebeca Garcia said during public comment at the Nov. 3 Independent Redistricting Commission’s meeting. Guadalupe is currently part of the 3rd District, while Santa Maria is split between the 4th and 5th Districts.
“The 5th District would have the largest group of immigrant and working-class families. This map makes sure they are accurately represented on the Board of Supervisors level, and helps us move forward on local immigration policies,” Garcia told the Sun.
The organization had several students attend as well as representatives from MICOP, Standing Up for Racial Justice’s Santa Maria Branch, the NAACP, and concerned residents advocating for the United Communities Map.
“The demographics of people who end up turning out don’t represent North County, [or] Santa Barbara County as a whole,” she said. “Being a majority of people of color and [high] Latino population, it doesn’t make sense that our needs aren’t represented.”
Currently, Santa Barbara County doesn’t have Latino representation on the Board of Supervisors, and maps divide Guadalupe and Santa Maria. The division amplifies low voter turnout, meaning that the people who end up voting are usually white and middle to upper class, Garcia said.
“It can feel impossible to have voices actually heard, especially when more affluent populations in the county have their issues prioritized. … We’re not represented accurately; we are drawn out in some way or diluted in power,” Garcia said. “The map we are supporting isn’t just for the 5th District; overall, it gives a really strong people-of-color district. Santa Barbara County is now majority persons of color, and it’s 47 percent Latino.”
Fifth District Commissioner Glenn Morris oversaw the Nov. 3 meeting, and was happy to see a large number of public commenters. He said he couldn’t comment on the specificities of the United Communities Map, but told the Sun about overarching patterns.
“One of the themes that is emerging is this idea of reconnecting Guadalupe to one of the Northern County districts. There are many proposed maps that do this with different approaches,” Morris said.
The Independent Redistricting Commission currently has about 60 maps, and Morris predicts the number to grow to about 80 maps with the extended Nov. 12 map submission deadline.
“Ultimately we have to go from 80 maps down to one, and that will be a process of analysis by our consultants who do the demographics work [and] our voting rights experts around all the different legal requirements, and listen closely to the public hearing comments as [maps] start to narrow down,” he said. “We have to match what we have to do with legal requirements, and what people want us to do.”
The next meeting will be on Nov. 12 at 3 p.m. in Santa Barbara and available on Zoom. To see maps or submit your own map, visit drawsantabarbaracounty.org.
This article appears in Nov 11-18, 2021.
