Redistricting determines if residents have fair representation in government and whether their representatives will reflect their interests. District lines can keep a community together or split it apart, thus leaving it without a representative who feels responsible for its concerns.
Join us as we urge the Panama Buena Vista School District to choose maps that will better serve the students in the area. The current maps that are being proposed are unacceptable and do not offer proper representation and equity for the surrounding community. Hold the school board accountable, fight for fair maps tonight 3/29/22 @ 5pm Panama Buena Vista School District 4200 Ashe Rd Bakersfield.
Dolores Huerta Foundation (DHF), Service Employees International Union (SEIU) 521, Central California Coalition for Equitable Redistricting (CCCER), Services, Immigrant Rights & Education Network (SIREN), Center on Race, Poverty & the Environment (CRPE) Central Valley Leadership Round Table (CVLRT), Cultiva de Salud, Central Valley Progressive PAC, Central Labor Council (CLC), Communities for a New California (CNC), Strength Based Community Change (SBCC) and Central Valley Partnership marched to demand for fair representation, fair funding, and fair resources. Please join us in these efforts as the #Fight4FairMaps is not over! Demand that the Board of Supervisors choose equity for all communities. Don’t let them divide us!
In August the Census Bureau released data based on the 2020 Census. The U.S. Census Bureau provides all 50 states population counts to use in their redrawing of congressional and state legislative district boundaries. This process of redistricting is not an optional or suggested process, but rather a legally mandated one that advocates have come together to urge California Redistricting Commissions to adhere to. Dolores Huerta Foundation Executive Director, Camila Chavez stated, “The recently released census data confirms what we’ve known to be the case for years. Our communities are increasingly made up of a rich diversity of constituents and the majority of current elected officials representing them simply are not reflective of the communities they are responsible for representing. The redistricting process as required by law, is one that should result in equitable representation and that’s exactly what our communities are working for.”
Community and labor groups have joined together in the Central Valley to ensure a fair and equitable map is adopted by the County Board of Supervisors for Redistricting. This process began in January of 2021 and included the voices of hundreds of community members. All County Board of Supervisors redistricted maps must adhere to the Federal Fair Maps Act, include community input, and consider communities of interest. DHF in solidarity with our partners, is demanding that counties in our region adhere to the redistricting process and adopt the map submitted by EMC, which is supported by community member input. We are urging officials to respect and acknowledge the NEW data for each district and stop their efforts to silence the voices of communities of color.
On Thursday, December 2, 2021 The Dolores Huerta Foundation (DHF), Service Employees International Union (SEIU) 521, Central California Coalition for Equitable Redistricting (CCCER), Services, Immigrant Rights & Education Network (SIREN), Center on Race, Poverty & the Environment (CRPE) Central Valley Leadership Round Table (CVLRT), and Central Valley Partnership will be hosting a press conference on at 11:00 am at Liberty Bell (In front of the Kern County Superior Court), urging Kern County to adhere to the redistricting criteria and ensure that community voices are heard.
Additionally, we invite the public to “March for Our Future” on Saturday, December 4, 2021 as we continue our fight for fair maps at a state level in the Central Valley. Dozens of community groups and allies from Kern, Tulare, Kings, Antelope Valley and Fresno counties will come together to demand fair maps, improved public services, and more COVID rescue funds for our Central Valley communities. We will begin at 11:00 am in front of Arte Americas, 1630 Van ness Ave., Fresno and end with a rally at Courthouse Park, Courthouse Park 1100 Van Ness Ave., Fresno at 12:00 pm. Our future depends on fair lines, fair funding and fair treatment for all. For more information about the Redistricting March, “March for Our Future,” please call (559) 420-0648 for more information. Learn more about the Dolores Huerta Foundation atwww.doloreshuerta.org.
The Dolores Huerta Foundation, in partnership with community leaders and other organizations, has come together to form the Equitable Maps Coalition and have painstakingly created Equitable Maps and districts that comply with the Voting Rights Act.
Through your support, the Dolores Huerta Foundation has been able to mobilize folks in the Central Valley to provide public comments at countless Board of Supervisors Redistricting meetings, target hard to hit communities through door-to-door canvassing, and educate folks at key community events to ensure that everyone understands what is at stake for the next ten years. The Kern Equitable Map Coalition came out in force to fight for fair maps.
Dozens of community members gave comments whereas meetings lasted for over 2 hours! It was so beautiful to hear from every community in Kern to come to a universal agreement, especially in the most misrepresented and underserved communities. Meanwhile, in the Fresno and Tulare county redistricting hearings, some of the same hard-right reactionaries challenged the EMC community map. DHF, partnering organizations and concerned community members fought an uphill battle as some misinformed right-winged individuals, unfortunately, mistook these maps to have a hidden agenda, when they are in fact well within the Voting Rights Act law. Additionally, each area has gained tremendous community support for the EMC maps.
The Dolores Huerta Foundation Vecinos Unidos® chapter members are actively engaging in the crucial redistricting process on all governmental levels including at their local school districts. The Education committee, a sub-focus group founded through the Vecinos Unidos®, have provided 15 board comments to Parlier Unified School District and Bakersfield City Schools district asking for a transparent, community-led process. Vecinos Unidos® continue to meet on a weekly basis to discuss their community needs and shape a map that will provide equitable representation.
Lastly, we’d like to thank each of you for your continued support! We invite you to join us in DEMANDING redistricting commissions to adopt equitable maps at assembly, senate & congressional levels. Demand that your elected representatives know where your community is and what is important to you and those in your community by giving public comments at your local redistricting hearing. For more information, please contact Eliana at ehoneycutt@doloreshuerta.org or visit www.wedrawthelinesca.org
Every ten years, following the Census, governments from Federal and State Legislature to local governments are obligated to modify their districts to ensure equitable representation of the population on decision-making bodies such as the Board of Supervisors, City Councils, Water and School Boards. Redistricting presents a critical opportunity for historically underrepresented communities to be actively engaged in creating representative districts for the next ten years. The Fair Maps Act AB 849 established certain requirements, including a total of five public hearings held throughout different phases of the process.
Redistricting has always been challenging. This year because of the pandemic and the delay in the release of 2020 Census Redistricting data, the challenges are even greater. DHF is looking forward to being a redistricting partner with communities we serve. There will be a focus on the Federal and State Legislature, County Board of Supervisors, City Councils, School Boards and other districts that Vecinos UnidosⓇ identify.
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