Redistricting Commission Contact Request
San Benito County – November 19, 2021: On November 9th, 2021 The San Benito County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to send a letter to the California Citizens Redistricting Commission to oppose the placement of San Benito County into the "Cupertino Draft Map" congressional district on their latest draft of the redistricting process.
Monterey County and San Benito County collaborate on regional issues of equity, like transportation, housing, water, broadband and of course, agriculture. We are home to thousands of farmworkers that work in the fields of the Salinas Valley, San Juan Valley and Hollister.
This move would remove San Benito County from the congressional district connection to the Central Coast area, of which the County has had a long history of collaboration with our coastal partners. This seat, now occupied by the Honorable Congressman Jimmy Panetta, has historically represented our local needs and interests well and is currently working on trying to come up with solutions to fix our own San Justo Reservoir.
This new reassignment would put San Benito County with south Santa Clara County and south San Jose. This area is densely populated and urban. Both San Benito County and Monterey County are rural in nature and character. The San Benito County Board of Supervisors feels this reassignment would not be a good fit and feel our County's needs and concerns would be drowned out by densely populated and urban communities' needs first.
Yesterday, elected representatives from San Benito County, including Supervisor Hernandez, Supervisor Tiffany , Cesar Flores, Vice Mayor of San Juan Bautista, and John Freeman, San Juan Bautista Council Member joined with Monterey County elected officials in a press conference in the City of Gonzalez, California. The purpose of the press conference was to encourage the public to contact the California Citizens Redistricting Commission to voice their concerns and oppose the latest redistricting placements by the commission.
The San Benito County Board of Supervisors encourages residents to immediately send comments to the California Citizens Redistricting Commission, voicing their concern and urging them to place us back into the "Midcoast Draft Map"/Central Coast area.
Link to the Redistricting Commission's Community Input Form
