Martinez Gets A New Supervisor Under New Proposed District Lines

Martinez is added to Hercules and Pittsburg and represented by Supervisor Federal Glover.

The San Ramon Valley gets a new supervisor.

Walnut Creek is split right down Broadway.

Pinole is divided, too. So is Antioch.

Concord remains whole and is paired with Clayton.

That's what the Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors decided to do Tuesday when they drew up new boundaries for their five districts.

The map along with an official ordinance come back to the supervisors for a final vote on Aug. 9. The new districts are expected to take effect 30 days after that vote.

The supervisors approved the map known as "17D amended" on a 3-2 vote after a lively debate.

Supervisors Karen Mitchoff, John Gioia and Federal Glover voted in favor of the plan.

Supervisors Mary Piepho and Gayle Uilkema voted against it.

They supported an alternative known as "Proposal 15," which did not split any cities and had the narrowest difference in population of the five maps the supervisors discussed Tuesday.

Piepho noted during the hearing that the board heard a consistent message from city leaders and residents to keep cities intact.

"If we're not listening to that, then we're not doing our job," she said.

However, Mitchoff said she doesn't believe cities who are represented by more than one supervisor suffer.

"I have yet to hear of one negative impact," she said.

The supervisors are required to draw up new districts every 10 years after each census. The growth in the San Ramon Valley and eastern Contra Costa County the past decade forced some changes.

Under the approved map, most of the San Ramon Valley will now be represented by Uilkema, who also oversees the Lamorinda area.

Piepho loses not only Alamo, Danville and San Ramon but also her portion of Walnut Creek. She adds most of Antioch as well as Oakley, Bethel Island and Morgan Territory Road to the Knightsen and Discovery Bay regions she now represents.

However, she does retain the communities of Diablo, Blackhawk and Camino Tassajara.

Piepho was disappointed in losing the bulk of the San Ramon Valley and Walnut Creek.

"Those are my peeps. I've been honored to represent them. I've worked with them on issues for seven years," Piepho said.

Under the new plan, Walnut Creek is split by a north-south line running along either Broadway or Main Street.

Parts of the town like Saranap that are west of line fall in Uilkema's district. The neighborhoods east of the line will now be represented by Mitchoff.

Walnut Creek Mayor Cindy Silva urged the supervisors during the meeting to keep her city as well as other communities intact.

"It's very unfortunate," she said afterward. "They had an opportunity to keep all 19 cities in the county whole and they didn't do it."

Pinole is also split almost in half under the approved plan. The eastern portion of the city remains represented by Gioia. The western half will now be overseen by Glover, whose new district stretches from Hercules to Pittsburg.

Northern Antioch is also split off from the rest of the city. That portion remains represented by Glover. The rest is in Piepho's district.

Glover has been accused by critics of trying to carve out a new district because of his narrow victory in 2008. He, Uilkema and Piepho are up for re-election next year.

Glover said his motivation was not re-election. He said he was trying to keep common communities together. He noted his new district has the waterfront communities of Hercules, Martinez and Pittsburg.

He added those communities also have a common railway transportation corridor.

"I think the new map keeps communities of interest together," Glover said.

Concord, the county's largest city, was not split. It is represented by Mitchoff along with Clayton, Pleasant Hill and the eastern half of Walnut Creek.

Clayton leaders were happy with being in the same district as Concord but disappointed the Morgan Territory Road region ended up in another district.

Mitchoff was the swing vote. She said she looked at the big picture when deciding which map to support.

"I have to look at the overall good," she said.

Uilkema said both proposal 15 and 17D had merits, but she simply thought proposal 15 was better.

Gioia said he felt proposal 17D did a better job of keeping communities of interest together.

Mitchoff added it was time to make a decision on redistricting and move on.

"It's time to move forward and get working on the critical issues facing this county," she said.