Palomares, Ashland Join CV on District 4 Map

After eight public hearings, the Board of Supervisors said the redrawn map focused on uniting "Communities of Interest." District 4 (represented by Nate Miley) now includes all of Ashland, Laurel District in Oakland, and Palomares Road.

The County’s district lines have been drawn for the next 10 years as the Alameda County Board of Supervisors voted last Wednesday on a redistricting map. The five-member board says the new map best reflects all of the “Community of Interest,” which had previously been split.

For example, the adopted map assigns all the Centerville Neighborhood in Fremont—home to one of the largest Afghan communities in the United States—to District 1 as well as all of the town of Sunol (represented by David Haubert). The Fruitvale neighborhood is now fully represented by District 3, (Dave Brown) whereas neighbors in the Glenview and Diamond neighborhoods are fully represented by District 5 (Keith Carson).

The changes to District 4 (represented by Nate Miley)—which includes Castro Valley—adds all the homes on Palomares Road as well as the unincorporated area of Ashland and the Laurel neighborhood in Oakland. Most of the changes only slightly redraw the current map, which historically splits up some communities among multiple representatives. For example, Pleasanton is part of District 4 despite its location in the Tri-Valley.

“Having all the unincorporated residents in one district simply does not serve them better because the growing disparities that so many face within our County are often amplified within the Unincorporated Area. These residents are best served when they have more than one elected voice on the Board of Supervisors,” said Supervisor Nate Miley.

Over the last six months, the Board reached out to the public and accepted community input in multiple formats, including online comments, drawings, emails, letters, and maps proposed by the public.

During the eight public hearings on the subject, most of the discussion from the Board and the public focused on whether communities were better served with one or multiple representatives. The Board received conflicting testimony from the public.

Every ten years, electoral districts throughout the US are redrawn to equalize the district populations. This process is called redistricting. It is important that each Supervisor represents about the same number of residents. Based on the 2020 US Census, Alameda County Districts need to represent an average of 336,000 residents.

There is an interactive map where you can see current and modified District lines on the County website, redistricting2021.acgov.org.