About Fair Representation

Building an even better community requires everyone’s participation. With that in mind, I’ve been studying three draft district maps chosen by the Thousand Oaks City Council to see which does best for communities of interest that are underrepresented today.

At its June 20, 2023 meeting, the City Council chose three maps for further study. All three have undergone revisions since then.

Here’s a comparison of the key metrics across the three revised maps, now labeled maps 106B, 111B, and 113.

One assertion made against draft map 104 was that it deviated from the ideal more than others in terms of population variance by district. That was only partially true — but map 113, which adds only minor tweaks to map 104, has much less deviation than the other candidate maps.

In all maps, households making less than $75,000/year are underrepresented. Only map 113 brings these groups near parity in District 5, running across the center of Thousand Oaks.

Note: Ventura County median income is now $123,500/year for a family of 4, and is almost certainly higher in Thousand Oaks.

On ethnicity, other maps dilute the representation of Latinos more than map 113. Look at the differences in relative representation in District 5.

Similarly, in terms of Latino voter registration, the other maps dilute representation more than map 113, citywide — not just in District 5.

In terms of dwelling types, other maps dilute the voting power of renters across all districts. Map 113 has the strongest representation for renters.

It’s a similar story for residents of multifamily dwellings, another community that’s currently underrepresented.

Across all metrics, the data shows that map 113 does more to include underrepresented residents than the others. A community where everyone takes part is best for us all.