The Board of Supervisors approved a redistricting plan that would reunify one long-divided city as well as the San Bernardino mountain communities. Adoption of the new board district boundaries was scheduled for Dec. 14.
The plan is the product of 19 public meetings, each of which was broadcast live on the internet, held in 14 locations throughout the county.
For many years, Fontana has been divided between at least two supervisorial districts. The plan approved by the Board places all of Fontana into one district and divides only Colton, San Bernardino and Upland. The plan would also reunite the Crestline, Lake Arrowhead and Running Springs areas with the Big Bear area. The current boundaries divide those communities between two districts.
Other notable changes from the current district boundaries would include moving Needles from the First District to the Third District, moving Devore from the Second District to the Third District, and moving more of Upland from the Second District to the Fourth District.
In the new plan:
- The First District would include Adelanto, Apple Valley, Hesperia, and Victorville.
- The Second District would include Fontana, Rancho Cucamonga, and northern Upland.
- The Third District would include Barstow; Grand Terrace; Highland; Loma Linda; Needles; Redlands; Yucaipa; Yucca Valley, Twentynine Palms and the rest of the Morongo Basin; portions of Colton and San Bernardino; and the San Bernardino mountain communities stretching from Crestline through the Big Bear valley, including the City of Big Bear Lake.
- The Fourth District would include Chino, Chino Hills, Montclair, Ontario, and southern Upland.
- The Fifth District would include Rialto and portions of Colton and San Bernardino.
Every 10 years, the County is required to redraw the boundaries of each of the five Board of Supervisors districts to ensure each has essentially the same number of residents, preserves communities of interest such as cities as much as possible, and complies with the Voting Rights Act. The County’s redistricting website offers a wealth of information on the process, including video recordings of each public meeting.
A highlight of this year’s redistricting process was the work done by the county’s first Advisory Redistricting Commission, which the Board of Supervisors created in response to a provision in the voter-approved County Charter.
The commission conducted 16 public meetings, three of them in the evening, in 14 locations throughout the county. The commission publicly examined and discussed five proposed Board of Supervisors district maps submitted by the public, in addition to one map created by a commission member, three created at the direction of the commission, and the existing map of districts created in 2011 with the current 2020 Census information. The commission referred three maps for recommendation to the board, including the map that was approved by the board.
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