Every decade the United States goes through a redistricting process that considers the boundaries of lines for county, state, and federal elections.  The process determines how the boundaries for each elected official’s district are set based on the new population data gathered in the census. 

In our county, the lines are supposed to be drawn so that each Supervisor’s district has roughly an equal population total and keeps most communities with shared interests together, where possible. 

In April, the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors (BOS) appointed an Advisory Redistricting Commission (ARC 21), with representatives from each district. The ARC pondered redistricting options for months and submitted their recommendations to the BOS, which advised the Board to leave the existing boundaries unchanged. 

https://www.santacruzcounty.us/Redistricting2021.aspx

But at the Tuesday, November 9 BOS meeting Scotts Valley’s Mayor Derek Timm, who appears to have aspirations for a BOS seat in 2024, submitted a last-minute proposal that would shift his own neighborhood and residence out of Supervisor Manu Koening’s 1st District, into Supervisor Bruce McPherson’s 5th District, asking the board to ignore the Commission’s recommendation not to change the boundaries. With the assumption that McPherson will retire, the Scotts Valley-centric Timm may see this as an opportunity to snag the seat. 

But in seizing the moment he’s asking the Board to ignore the calls to unify San Lorenzo Valley and Bonny Doon, the calls to leave San Lorenzo Valley’s District boundaries unchanged, and the redistricting commission’s recommendation that the boundaries remain unchanged.

Mayor Timm and his supervisorial champions Koenig and Friend suggest that there is value in unifying Scotts Valley under a single Supervisor. But if the board accepts the argument that there is value in unifying Scotts Valley under a single supervisorial district then they should give the same consideration to Capitola, Watsonville, and Santa Cruz - all of which are split among multiple supervisorial district's as well.

Even more frustrating for those of us watching the redistricting process is how readily Aptos Supervisor Zach Friend and and 1st District Supervisor Koenig supported this proposal, like unusually fast.

The vote was moved on a 4 - 1, with Caput commenting on the obvious political nature of the move and Coonerty voting against. McPherson's vote is a question mark.

"Reuniting Scotts Valley" as some local media put it, is only a logical aim if you can explain why no other incorporated city enjoys the same opportunity. Even unincorporated communities of interest are split among supervisorial districts. One could easily argue that Bonny Doon and SLV share more in common than Scotts Valley and SLV, and yet we are separated by a voting boundary.

We urge the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors to disregard the obvious power grab by political aspirants in Scotts Valley and by those who have little interest in the health and welfare of the San Lorenzo Valley as we recover from the pandemic and the wildfires. Our decidedly rural community, already reeling, would be further damaged by the one-sided incursion proposed by the Scotts Valley Mayor who has no connection to, or understanding of, the San Lorenzo Valley

Sign and share the petition. And write your own letters/emails to the Board of Supervisors at:

bruce.mcpherson@santacruzcounty.us
ryan.coonerty@santacruzcounty.us
greg.caput@santacruzcounty.us
zach.friend@santacruzcounty.us
manu.koenig@santacruzcounty.us
Redistricting2021@santacruzcounty.us
COBStaff@santacruzcounty.us