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Politics & Government

Chance for Citizens to Speak Out on New District Boundaries

Citizens Redistricting Commission encourages Santa Clara County residents to help decide new boundaries for districts.

Do you like your county supervisor? That could change.

The best chance citizens have for speaking out on the future of the Santa Clara County supervisorial districts is happening this month, starting with Thursday night’s Citizens Redistricting Commission meeting at county headquarters.

Some residents could find themselves in new districts for November’s election based on changes under consideration by the commission. One plan being debated would split Cupertino and Saratoga away from District 5 where they have been for many years, adding Sunnyvale to the district instead. The two cities would join District 4, which includes Campbell and parts of San Jose.

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There are other maps being discussed that could lead to different boundary scenarios, or the commission could decide to keep districts more or less the same. The final decision for boundaries lies with the Board of Supervisors.

Chairperson Susanne Wilson said the commission welcomes all citizen input and she encouraged people to come and be heard. Thursday’s meeting is at 6:30 p.m. in the Lower Level Conference Room at the County Government Center, 70 W. Hedding St., San Jose.

Find out what's happening in Los Altoswith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The final meeting of the commission is happening Thursday, May 19, in the Board Chambers at the center, and will be broadcast over the Internet. The commission is presenting its recommendations to the Board of Supervisors on June 7; by law the Board must make a decision by August 15 for the new boundaries to take effect for the November election.

Redistricting takes place once every 10 years after a census to accommodate shifts in population. The Board of Supervisors appointed the citizen’s commission, which started meeting after the Census results were released in March.

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