Gilroy City Council is adding another public hearing to its districting process to allow more residents to weigh in and give the council more time to deliberate on decisions that will change the face of Gilroy’s elections for years to come.
“We would like then to have (the time) to still go back and talk with the constituents and talk amongst ourselves,” said Gilroy Mayor Greg Bozzo at Monday’s meeting. “The key advantage is … having two weeks to really understand and talk to the public before making a decision on the maps.”
The council voted to begin the districting process in late February. The move came after Gilroy received a letter threatening legal action under the California Voting Rights Act if the city did not move to district-based elections, where residents in different sectors of a city vote for a single city councilmember to represent their district.
No city has won a lawsuit against districting under the state election law, and some, including Santa Clara, have had to pay out millions in legal fees after attempting to fight it.
Under the state voting law, the city can avoid those hefty legal fees by creating voting districts in a 90 day window — by May 27 for Gilroy — and hosting at least five public hearings.
While the council was originally slated to make decisions on district maps this past Monday, they held off on the decision.
Much ongoing discussion has centered on how districting would affect Gilroy’s heavily Latino East Side, which was cited in the letter threatening lawsuit as the impetus for moving to districts..
Many proposed maps created a single district to the East of Monterey Highway in an attempt to unite the region into a single voting block. Some, however, argued that the East Side had different communities with different needs, holding both more densely packed residential areas as well as more rural areas.
“I don’t agree with the East Side being all one section … It’s like ‘oh, you live on the other side of the tracks,’” said Councilmember Dion Bracco at Monday’s meeting, arguing that the proposed maps divided communities with the same interests and grouped together some who might not have that much in common.
Others, though, thought differently. Gilroy Resident Sally Armendariz said she had lived on the East Side for generations and argued that splitting up the East Side would “totally divide the Latino community.”
“I think it’s only fair that our community stick together,” she said.
The districting discussion will continue at public hearings on May 5 and May 19. At the May 19 meeting, the council will approve a final map and decide which three districts will have elections in 2026 and which will wait until 2028. The deadline to propose maps for consideration is April 28 at 10 a.m. More information on the districting process, links to draw and suggest districts, and a form to submit public comment are available at cityofgilroy.org/districting.
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