Sunnyvale Pushing Hard to Move Into District 5 With Los Altos, Mountain View and Palo Alto

The city of Sunnyvale is making a major push to be included as a whole in county supervisorial District 5, because of its close ties to Los Altos, Mountain View and Palo Alto, Sunnyvale officials said at a Citizens Redistricting Commission meeting on Thursday.

If Sunnyvale officials get their way, longtime District 5 cities, Cupertino and Saratoga, would find themselves in an entirely new district.

Right now, Sunnyvale is split in two, with 62 percent—mostly north of El Camino Real—in District 3, represented by Supervisor Dan Cortese, along with a part of San Jose along San Francisco Bay and Milpitas. The other 38 percent—mostly south of El Camino—is in District 5, represented by Liz Kniss.

Because Sunnyvale is the second-largest city in the county with 140,000 residents, moving it as a whole means displacing 86,000 residents, which turns out to be almost exactly the combined populations of Cupertino, at just over 58,000, and Saratoga, nearly 30,000. That presents commissioners with a tricky situation: The law requires the commission to avoid political decisions that would gerrymander district boundaries to favor one political party or interest group.

The 11-member citizen committee, chaired by Susanne Wilson, retired San Jose councilwoman and county supervisor, was appointed by the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors in March after the 2010 Census figures were released.

Besides reflecting changes in population numbers, commissioners must also take into account “communities of interest,” which can include anything from ethnicity, to industry, to environmental concerns. The idea is to not dilute those communities’ issues, by subdividing them among multiple supervisors.

At Thursday’s meeting, Sunnyvale Mayor Melinda Hamilton, Vice Mayor James Griffith and Councilman Christopher Moylan told the commission that Sunnyvale is in a community of interest with its neighbors to the northwest and should be included as a whole with cities it shares numerous ties with.

“It is definitely to our advantage to be grouped in with cities with which we are alike,” said Griffith.

He pointed to the fact that Sunnyvale, Mountain View and Palo Alto all share a coastline with San Francisco Bay and could face climate change issues together. They also share Cal Train and VTA light rail routes, a landfill and proximity to Moffett Field, and they plan to consolidate some public safety services in the near future with the North County cities, including Los Altos.

Griffith said Sunnyvale shares little in common with Milpitas, San Jose or Santa Clara.

The commission’s main purpose is to create several maps showing potential new districts so that it can make a recommendation to the supervisors at their meeting at 1:30 p.m. June 7. There is only one more commission meeting, and that's at 6:30 p.m. May 19.

“We’re really approaching from trying to be very rational about identifying maps showing what can be done, but identifying what problems can occur,” Wilson said in an interview. “Our goal is 356,328 people, plus or minus per district,” within 10 percent of that number.

Up until last Thursday, the commission had considered various maps that either put all of Sunnyvale in District 3, keeping Cupertino and Saratoga intact in District 5, or put all of Sunnyvale in District 5, placing the two cities in District 4, along with Campbell and parts of San Jose. They also considered maps that still had Sunnyvale split in two, including one that kept boundaries more or less where they are now.

But on Thursday, Moylan shared an all-new map with commissioners that places Cupertino and Saratoga in District 1, which would include Los Gatos, then hug the western portion of San Jose and encompass the southernmost cities of Morgan Hill, San Martin and Gilroy. Campbell would remain in District 4, where it now sits.

Cupertino Mayor Gilbert Wong said in an interview on Friday that he would not be in favor of any plan that placed his city in with the southernmost cities.

“That would make no sense. Where is the common interest?” he said.

Wong said he wants Cupertino to either stay in District 5 where it has been historically, and because of common business and educational interests with other District 5 cities, or move to District 4, because of common interests with cities in the county’s West Valley.

He pointed to strong relationships between Saratoga, Monte Sereno, Los Gatos, Campbell and Cupertino through the West Valley Cities Managers and Mayors Association, which has met for the past decade.

Both Wong and Chairwoman Wilson suggested that while Sunnyvale may want to remain whole, its size could preclude that. Pieces of San Jose are in all five county districts.

“When you are second-largest city, it makes it difficult to keep it whole,” Wilson said.

At the meeting, Wilson suggested a plan that would more evenly split Sunnyvale between districts 3 and 5, saying it would be less disruptive to the boundaries overall, while acknowledging it was a less than perfect solution.

The last meeting of the commission on May 19 will be in the Board of Supervisors Chambers, 70 W. Hedding St., San Jose, and will be live streamed on the Web. Any county resident can address the commissions with concerns.

From there, the commission’s recommendations will go to the supervisors, where at least two public hearings will take place before a final decision on boundaries on Aug. 15.

Wilson said she had confidence her commission would make wise recommendations to the supervisors.

“They are good people struggling to help us do a good job and give the board enough choices that are good choices,” she said.