Quest for Equality Expected to Shrink Flynn’s District

Ventura County Supervisor John K. Flynn will probably lose part of his district so all five supervisorial districts will be roughly equal in population, according to a county report based on 1990 census figures.

In Flynn’s district, which includes Oxnard and nearby unincorporated beach areas, the population has grown by more than 15% over the past five years. It is the fastest-growing district in the county, according to a report by county Chief Administrative Officer Richard Wittenberg.

Flynn’s district grew from 120,099 in 1986, when the boundaries were last adjusted, to 142,065 last year.

In contrast, the district of Supervisor Vicky Howard, which includes Simi Valley, Moorpark and the Santa Rosa Valley, has decreased in population by about 2%, according to the report.

Her district had 137,159 residents in 1986, compared with 134,612 last year.

Howard said she is not sure why the population in her district decreased, but the census indicated that the average household size in Simi Valley, the largest city in her jurisdiction, has decreased.

“Flynn’s district is the only one that has really grown out of proportion,” she said.

Flynn agreed. “It does need to be adjusted somewhat,” he said. “But I don’t really see any problem.”

He said the population increase has come mostly from an influx of people from Mexico and South and Central America.

Flynn said he has not considered where the adjustments on his district would be made. “I will probably have to let go of some precinct.”

The Board of Supervisors has until Sept. 30 to approve boundary adjustments that make districts as equal in population as possible, Wittenberg’s report said.

Wittenberg will ask the Board of Supervisors Tuesday to give him the authority to begin drafting a boundary adjustment plan.

He said Friday that the boundary adjustments would be minor compared with other counties where boundary adjustments have not been made since after the 1980 federal census.

Ventura County supervisors voluntarily adjusted their boundaries in 1986 in response to disproportionate population growth in the eastern portion of the county, he said.

Wittenberg said the 1990 census revealed that supervisorial districts in other counties differ in population by as much as 10%, while the districts in Ventura County vary by less than 2%.

But as Ventura County continues to grow, it will become increasingly difficult to adjust boundaries without splitting a city or ethnic groups between two districts, he said.

State law requires that the supervisors consider topography, geography, compactness of territories and communities of interest when adjusting the boundaries.

The supervisors are prohibited from adjusting the districts in a way that would dilute the voting strength of an ethnic minority.

In 1986, the boundaries of Flynn’s district were adjusted to include about 20,000 residents from La Colonia, a predominantly Latino neighborhood in Oxnard, Flynn said.

The adjustments were made to keep Oxnard’s Latino population within one supervisorial district, he said.

Flynn’s district is the most racially diverse, with Latinos making up 48% of the voting-age population, Anglos 39% and blacks about 5%, according to the report.

Supervisorial District Population

Percentage of District Population total county pop. District 1 130,468 19.50% (Susan Lacey) District 2 131,276 19.62% (Maria VanderKolk) District 3 130,595 19.52% (Maggie Erickson Kildee) District 4 134,612 20.12% (Vicky Howard) District 5 142,065 21.23% (John Flynn)

Source: 1990 Census