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Conejo Recreation & Park District GENERAL MANAGER BOARD OF DIRECTORS Jim Friedl Chuck Huffer, Chair George M. Lange, Vice Chair Nellie Cusworth, Director Doug Nickles, Director Marissa Buss, Director GENERAL MANAGER EM ERT US Tex Ward DATE: January 19, 2023 TO: Board of Directors FROM: Jim 6'�riedl, General IVlarn er. SUBJECT: Resolution to Adopt ivisions for "By -Director Dovision" Elections R.ECOMMEN®�Y SON Adopt Resolution Number 011923-A selecting a director division map for use in the November 2024 elections and thereafter, completing the transition from at -large voting to division -based voting. BACKGROUND The District presently has an "at -large" electoral system; the entire jurisdiction votes for each member of the District Board. This is in contrast to a "by -division" election system; where the jurisdiction is divided into divisions, a Board candidate must reside within an election division and is elected only by voters residing within that election division. In recent years, a number of public agencies in California have been sued under the California Voting Rights Act ("CVRA"). Typically, plaintiffs allege that the defendant agency's at -large electoral system has resulted in "voting in which there is a difference ... in the choice of candidates of other electoral choices that are preferred by voters in a protected class, and in the choice of candidates and electoral choices that are preferred by voters in the rest of the electorate." These lawsuits usually demand that the defendant agency transition to a by- district/by-division b- district/by-division system. In 2016, the California legislature established a "safe harbor" from CVRA litigation for public agencies. AB 350 amended Elections Code section 10010 to cap the attorneys' fees a prospective plaintiff may recover if a public agency adopts a resolution of intention to change to a by-district/by-division system of elections within 45 days following the receipt of a letter from that prospective plaintiff alleging a CVRA violation and follows a specified process and timeline for completing the transition. On September 29, 2022, the District received a letter from attorney Kevin Shenkman of the law firm Shenkman & Hughes threatening to sue the District for alleged violations of the CVRA ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICES 403 West Hillcrest Drive, Thousand Oaks, CA 91360-4223 805-495-6471 1 Fax: 805-497-3199 1 parks@crpd.org I www.crpd.org