The City of Tustin will move to by-district elections beginning in November 2022, following the adoption of Ordinance No. 1518 at the City’s fifth districting public hearing on November 1, 2021.
The adopted Ordinance implements by-district elections of four Council Members, establishes the election of a Mayor at-large, establishes the boundary lines for each of the four newly created districts, and determines election sequencing. With this transition, the City will move from a voting system where residents vote for all Council Members to a system where residents will vote for one Council Member representing their specific district and vote for a Mayor at-large.
Tustin’s five current City Council Members are eligible to serve in their at-large capacity on the City Council through the end of their existing terms. Beginning in the November 2022 elections, the District 3 Council Member and at-large Mayor will be up for election, each for a four-year term. The remaining three Districts’ (1, 2, and 4) Council Members will be up for elections in November 2024 to serve four-year terms. To learn more about the Ordinance, adopted map, and election sequencing, head to DrawTustin.org/Selected-Map.
The adoption of the Ordinance completes Tustin’s process of moving to district-based elections. In August, the City began the process and hired consultants Tripepi Smith to perform community outreach and National Demographics Corporation (NDC) to serve as the demographers. The City of Tustin held two virtual City Council public hearings, three hybrid public hearings, and two virtual community workshops. Following each meeting, the City posted recordings and meeting materials to the DrawTustin.org/Schedule page for public review in multiple languages.
Throughout the process, the City team and consultants sought feedback from the public to identify and protect communities of interest in the mapping process. Draft maps and comments submitted by the public were posted to the DrawTustin.org/Draft-Maps page prior to the third and fourth hearings.
The community of Tustin submitted 16 drafted maps, and NDC produced five maps utilizing public feedback on communities of interest and geographical landmarks. During the third hearing, NDC presented the first publication of draft maps to the City Council and gathered feedback from the community and City Council. During the fourth public hearing, NDC presented additional community-submitted maps and the City Council voted to introduce Ordinance No 1518, which would implement by-district elections and select the district boundaries identified in Map 113.
Throughout the district formation effort, the City engaged the Tustin community via various means, including social media, email, phone calls, lawn signs, flyers, mailers and video productions. All outreach materials were produced in English, Spanish, Chinese, Korean, and Vietnamese.
The City of Tustin appreciates community members’ participation in the districting process and would like to thank everyone who submitted a map, shared public comments, and attended meetings in person or via Zoom. For more information on the conclusion of the process, visit the districting website DrawTustin.org.