The five-month process of determining Turlock Irrigation District’s new boundaries for its Board of Directors was completed last Tuesday, with the elected body giving its seal of approval to a new map which makes little changes to the current divisions.
TID first began its decennial redistricting process with a kickoff meeting in September. Four initial draft maps were posted for public viewing in November, with Directors selecting their preferred choice, Option A, in December. TID received public feedback on the varying maps throughout the process, External Affairs Department Manager Josh Weimer said.
“We feel like this process, while it may have been a little bit more flushed out and a little dragged on, we think that it helped with transparency and making sure that the public was well aware of the process and had their input heard,” he said.
In selecting and approving the Option A map, Weimer said Directors chose new boundaries which accomplish the goals the organization established in September. While there are some shifts to divisions, they remain mostly unchanged, and the new map meets requirements set forth by the Voting Rights Act with at least one majority Hispanic division.
In the new map, Division 1, currently represented by Board President Michael Frantz, loses just a sliver of its southern border to Division 4 (Director Robert Santos). Division 2 (Director Charles Fernandes) also shrinks, with its southern border pushed up from Grayson Road to around Hatch Road. Division 3 (Director Joe Alamo) features the largest Hispanic vote at 60.93% and still features the same southern border at West Main Street, but now stretches eastward into the current Division 4. Division 5 (Vice President Ron Macedo) gains territory in central Turlock by taking a small southern chunk out of Division 4 as well.
In the upcoming fall election, Fernandes in Division 2, Alamo in Division 3 and Macedo in Division 5 are all up for reelection. According to Weimer, the newly-approved map will now be sent to the elections divisions of both Stanislaus and Merced counties to be used for the election.
To view the final map, as well as additional draft maps, visit https://www.tid.org/about-tid/board-of-directors/redistricting/
