MAP A & THE PATTEN MAP
The Board of Supervisors considered a number of proposals for redrawing Supervisor District boundaries during their 2021 process. A comparison of two of the maps, Map A and the Richard Patten Map, illustrates how the Board majority gerrymandered the maps for partisan purposes.
Map A was proposed by the County's hired consultant and essentially represented the current status quo with a few very slight modifications. Because the population of SLO County had changed little since the last census count in 2010 there was no legal need to make any changes and Map A represented that option.
The Richard Patten Map was submitted by a private citizen and was based on an unprecedented modification to Supervisor Districts across the County. The County Republican Party supported the Patten Map, held citizen training sessions on talking points, and mobilized citizens to write letters and attend Supervisor hearings in support of it. The Patten Map clearly favors one political party over another, a violation of the California laws governing Supervisor redistricting. For example, as a result of the radical changes, 34,000 voters will have their votes accelerated, meaning that they will have voted for a Supervisor in 2020 and again in 2022. Of these accelerated voters, 41% are Republican and 31% are Democrats. Another 29,000 voters will have their Supervisor vote delayed, meaning they voted for a Supervisor in 2018, but won't vote again until 2024 (including Oceano, Grover Beach, Pismo Beach, and Los Osos). Of these delayed Supervisor voters, 47% are Democrats and 25% are Republicans. Across the County, 49,000 voters will not be represented by a Supervisor until 2025. Likewise, the percentages of registered voters in the various Districts was changed to give a greater advantage to Republican voters in the upcoming 2022 General Election. For example under the current District 2 boundary (currently represented by Democratic Supervisor Gibson), Democrats make up 46% of voters and Republicans make up 26% of voters. Under the Patten Map, Democrats will make up 34% of the voters and Republicans make up 39% of voters -- a total flip. The District 4 boundaries (currently represented by Supervisor Compton) were changed from the current 35% of Democratic voters and 38% Republican voters to 33% Democrat and 40% Republican. This is a significant advantage to Republican Supervisor Compton when one considers that she won her last election in 2018 under the old boundaries by a mere 60 votes.