By Mary O’KEEFE

Residents of Glendale have until Sept. 28 to submit their own designed district map for the Glendale City Council to consider and present at its fourth public hearing on Oct. 10.

The City has been considering moving to district elections from the present citywide elections. Many cities have already transitioned to district voting or are exploring the possibility of this process. The majority of the Glendale City Council is in favor of putting the choice of district voting on the March 2024 ballot with the most vehement opposition coming from Councilmember Ara Najarian, who has voiced his objections at numerous council meetings. At Tuesday’s meeting Najarian once again shared his opinion about the City putting this option on the ballot.

One of the reasons the majority of the council is in favor of this proposal is to avoid a lawsuit concerning the violation of the California Voter’s Rights Act. Several cities have faced lawsuits regarding this issue with one of the most significant filed by the Pico Neighborhood Association vs. the City of Santa Monica that went to the California Supreme Court. Santa Monica’s at-large, or citywide, elections were challenged. In early 2019 a trial court ruled in the association’s favor and ordered Santa Monica to transition to district voting. That decision was overturned by the California appellate court, which was then overturned in August of this year by the Supreme Court of California. However, the high court’s decision does appear to leave some wiggle room when it comes to how cities prove they are not violating voters’ rights, which Najarian pointed out during Tuesday’s meeting.

But the issue does exist and many cities have been and are being sued, and to fight those lawsuits cost the city taxpayers money.

The City of Glendale’s proposal to transition to citywide voting is moving forward. It has conducted outreach community meetings and is now in the final stages of information gathering.

Throughout the process, the City has encouraged public feedback on the process and sought public input on where the proposed district boundaries should be. Draft maps, created by the community and the City’s demographer, are available for review on the interactive review map. Paper maps with a breakdown of demographics are also available on the draft maps webpage, according to a City statement.

For those who would like to submit their own map for City Council consideration or adapt a previously submitted map, there is still time. Maps may be submitted until Thursday, Sept. 28 for consideration at the fourth public hearing on Tuesday, Oct. 10 at Glendale City Hall, 613 E. Broadway.

The public can share input on which map elements they agree or disagree with by participating in the public hearing, emailing MapGlendale@GlendaleCA.gov, calling the City at (818) 548-4844, ext. 1, or by attending the final remaining pop-up event at the Touch-A-Truck event at Elks Lodge, 120 E. Colorado St. in Glendale, on Saturday, Sept. 16 at 9 a.m.

The City invites the public to get involved in the process. For more information on Glendale’s district formation process, such as arguments for and against district formation and how to participate in the process, visit MapGlendale.org.