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City of San Leandro City Council Meeting Date: May 19, 2025 Agenda Number: 8.a. Agenda Section: PUBLIC HEARINGS File Number: 25-236 File Type: Staff Report Public Hearing Number 3 to Receive Input from the Community on City Council Districts to be Established for District-Based Elections Beginning in 2026 and the Sequence of Elections EXECUTIVE SUMMARY On November 21, 2024, the City received a notice of potential CVRA violation from Goldstein, Borgen, Dardarian, & Ho ("GBDH") on behalf of their client and claimant, Robert Bulatao . On January 6, 2025, the City Council adopted a resolution declaring its intent to transition to district-based elections pursuant to the California Voting Rights Act (“CVRA”). On April 7, 2025, the City Council entered into a written agreement with the claimant to complete all requisite public hearings by July 5, 2025. Two additional public hearings must be held to comply with the written agreement and the CVRA. RECOMMENDATION Hold a third public hearing to receive community input and provide direction to staff regarding the submitted draft map(s) and the sequence of elections. BACKGROUND As part of the City’s transition to by-district elections, state law requires the City to hold at least two public hearings over a period of no more than 30 days, during which the public is invited to provide input regarding the composition of the districts. (Elec. Code § 10010(a)(1).) The first two public hearings were held on April 21 and May 5, 2025 , respectively. The City was not required by law to propose any district maps at the first two public hearings but instead offered the public an opportunity to provide input regarding the district map’s criteria and composition of voting districts. Public comments were received at both public hearings. The City Clerk’s office did public outreach at the San Leandro Farmers Market on April 16 and 30, and May 14, and is scheduled for May 28 as well. Further outreach was published on social media, Instagram and Facebook, as well as in the San Leandro Times, Vision Hispana and Sing Tao newspapers, in English, Spanish and Chinese. State law requires the City to hold at least two additional public hearings over the course of no more than 45 days, during which the public is also invited to provide input regarding the content of the draft maps and the proposed sequence of elections. (Elec. Code § 10010(a)(2).) Seven days prior to the third public hearing, the City must publish a draft version of the map. (Elec. Code § 10010(a)(2).) Once a map is selected, state law then requires the City to publish the map for at least seven days prior to consideration at a public hearing during which an ordinance to adopt the district map is voted on by the legislative body. On May 12, 2025, the City published the proposed district map on the City’s website (https://www.sanleandro.org/1442/District-Elections). Page 1 City of San Leandro Printed on 9/4/2025