AUBURN, California — In a surprise turn of events Tuesday, the Placer County Board of Supervisors changed direction from the week prior and unanimously approved a community-created redistricting map.
The board had been heavily criticized for approving a different redistricting map, Map A, on Nov. 30, which was created by a group that had been selected by the board.
The approved redistricting map is known as Hybrid 2.0, Option 1. It was an unexpected turn of events that even caught proponent Bonnie Gore, the Placer County supervisor for District 1, off guard.
“I was pleasantly and very much surprised that our board ultimately chose to vote together to support the community’s input,” said Gore.
Gore said she threw her weight behind the hybrid map because it did several things.
“What I liked about the hybrid map was that it did several things. It took in community input. It actually kept most communities of interest together. The city of Rocklin was kept together. West Roseville was kept together. Unincorporated areas of Loomis were kept together. So a number of things, that map actually met,” Gore said.
Rocklin Vice Mayor Bill Halldin also reacted to the board’s unanimous vote.
“I’m thrilled, thrilled that they adopted this map that was developed by a lot of community members that keeps all the cities in Placer County united in one district, including, for the first time, Rocklin,” Halldin said.
Halldin said a unified Rocklin has been a dream of Rocklin leaders for decades.
“I’m surprised that they changed course from last week. But they changed course, I think because they listened for the last week. And they heard a lot of feedback from the community,” said Halldin.
Jayson Wedge, an Auburn resident, spoke out at Tuesday’s meeting even though said he thought the outcome was already decided.
“I was very surprised. I went in this today thinking it was just going to be a repeat of the last one. But I had high hopes and I’m actually very impressed how this one turned out,” explained Wedge.
Wedge likes to see some permanent changes.
“My hope is that there will be a new restored hope with the community and of the board of supervisors actually listening to the community,” Wedge said.
Some have asked if the Board of Supervisors could change their mind again.
“We’ll have a second reading next week just to approve the map that we approved today. I do not anticipate us bringing up another map because if we don’t approve that map prior to the 15th then we actually don’t have control over which map we ultimately choose,” said Gore.
