Potential districts unveiled in Riverbank

Four options for splitting the city into voting districts are available for public review, and all would yield two predominantly Latino districts.

The City Council is scheduled to review the options Tuesday, with town hall meetings in coming weeks to further examine them and collect public input, and a citywide vote expected in November.

The change was prompted by a warning from the Latino Community Roundtable, the same group that has persuaded Modesto, Turlock and several school districts to abandon at-large elections.

Latinos make up 52 percent of the city population but only about 42 percent of registered voters. No current council member is Latino, although Leanne Jones Cruz, Cal Campbell and Darlene Barber-Martinez all are married to Latinos. The city’s immediate past mayor, Virginia Madueño, is Latina.

Each of the four options would divide Riverbank into four geographic districts with one future council member coming from each, and the mayor continuing to be elected by voters across the entire city.

Any of the options would result in at least some current council members living in the same district, meaning they would oppose each other if they continue to seek office. One option would pit two council members against each other in one district and the other two vying in a second district, with no incumbent in either of the two remaining districts.

In any of the four options, proposed District 1 would have the heaviest Latino concentration, ranging from 71 to 74 percent. Latinos who voted in the November 2012 election, however, run as low as 51 percent in that district. In each configuration, District 1 includes all or part of Riverbank’s state-named streets: Iowa, Kansas, Texas, Arizona, Nevada and Dakota avenues.

The three other districts also would have sizable Latino populations, but in lesser concentrations. For example, District 2 would enjoy a Latino majority in each of the four options, ranging from 49 to 55 percent, with non-Latino whites making up 38 to 45 percent.

Non-Latino whites would have the edge in District 3 under any of the four options, and would outnumber Latinos in District 4 under three of the four options.

From a current political perspective, three of the options would pit Councilwomen Barber-Martinez and Jeanine Tucker against each other while placing Campbell and Jones Cruz alone in their respective districts.

A brief analysis:

▪ Draft A could be called the “quadrants” option because its districts would be divided into north, south, east and west more cleanly than the others. Tucker and Barber-Martinez both live in District 4, while Campbell is in District 2 and Jones Cruz in District 3.

▪ Draft B would carve a central north-south corridor, District 2, in the middle of Riverbank, uniting more of the industrial and railroad areas; again, Tucker and Barber-Martinez both live here. Campbell and Jones Cruz would have to face off in District 3, while Districts 1 and 4 would be wide open.

▪ From a map perspective, Draft C has mostly long and skinny north-south districts. Like Draft A, this option also pits Tucker and Barber-Martinez against each other while giving passes to Campbell and Jones Cruz.

▪ Draft D splits District 4 into two noncontiguous parts separated by railroad tracks, one comprising the south part of the Crossroads neighborhood and the other on Riverbank’s east edge. Barber-Martinez lives in this district, and this option is the only one not pitting her against another incumbent, while Tucker and Jones Cruz both live in District 3. Campbell is alone in District 2.

This story was originally published January 11, 2015 at 6:14 PM with the headline "Potential districts unveiled in Riverbank."