Placer County Supervisors unanimously approve hybrid redistricting map

Placer County's redistricting process came to an end Tuesday morning as the Board of Supervisors approved the Hybrid 2.0 Option 1 map in a unanimous vote. The map consists of Auburn becoming whole with North Auburn joining the city of Auburn in District 5, Rocklin and Lincoln remaining whole, Roseville being limited to three districts and Loomis remaining whole and included with Newcastle and Penryn. According to Scott Sandow, public information officer for the county, the districts are: District 1: Roseville District 2: Roseville and Lincoln District 3: Loomis, Rocklin, Penryn and a portion of Newcastle District 4: Roseville District 5: Auburn, Colfax and a portion of Newcastle The item was pulled from the consent agenda for discussion by District 3 Planning Commissioner Anthony DeMattei. "I wanted to pull this map from the consent agenda because I believe this map was not truly wanted by all of you (supervisors) and was pushed by a small group of people that did not truly represent the majority of the 400,000 residents of Placer County," DeMattei said. "To me, this map shows the beginning of segregation between cities and rural communities, especially in District 3." DeMattei said in the days following the board's Dec. 7 vote, he had conversations with residents of the agricultural community advising him they "feel like we were separated in the Loomis Basin for the gain of the Rocklin City Council." Placer resident Wayne Nader provided the second comment the board received, noting he was grateful to the board for listening to the public. "Now, is the map perfect? None of them were," Nader said. "But what we were trying to do, and I think all of you were trying to do as well as the staff, was at the end of the process we had as few unhappy people as we could possibly get. I think we did that with the public map that was put together." Nader noted he believes, "Agriculture will always have a pretty good place at the table here in Placer County" with the approval of the Placer County Conservation Program, which was approved Aug. 31 to permanently conserve open space and agricultural land in western Placer County. Said District 5 Supervisor Cindy Gustafson before the board's vote, "There was no perfect solution here, and as you know, I was not supportive of our final action. I stand unified with the board because I think that's the right thing to do. When the majority rules, we come together to represent the people of this county." The board's approval meets the state's Dec. 15 deadline for redistricting. The Hybrid 2.0 Option 1 map will serve as Placer's supervisorial districts for the next 10 years. According to the county, the map will be effective on Jan. 13. This story was updated at 8:25 a.m. Dec. 15, 2021.