The general election on Nov. 6 will be the first election for Gavilan College Trustees since the board voted to transition from at-large to district elections.
At their April 14, 2015 meeting, trustees amended Board Policy 2100, Board Elections, stating the intention to transition to a system of by-district trustee area elections in time for the November 2016 general election. Under the new process, Gavilan College trustees must reside in, and will be elected by the voters in each of seven single-member trustee areas (TAs).
In past elections, voters in all parts of the college district elected trustees at-large, although trustee seats were trustees residing in three areas based on K-12 school district boundaries (two each from Morgan Hill Unified and Gilroy Unified, and three from San Benito High School District.) With a change to by-district voting, Gavilan’s trustees will be elected in each of seven single-member Trustee Areas, each with a Census 2010 total population of about 24,000. Details about the process that aligns with the Federal Voting Rights Act can be found at Demographer’s Report on Draft Trustee Area Plans June 9, 2015.
In addition to Federal law, the process to establish area boundaries included opportunities for members of the public and the Board to offer opinions about which districting criteria were important. Residents of the northern, central, and southern portions of the District commented on the various draft plans, including maps prepared by LULAC/MALDEF (Demographer’s Report; September 22, 2015).
Election offices of both San Benito and Santa Clara counties are contracted to consolidate Gavilan’s trustee election with the General Election. Eligibility to run can be verified and nomination paperwork can be processed by contacting the election office of a nominee’s county of residence starting July 18, 2016 with a deadline of Aug. 12, 2016:
San Benito County Registrar of Voters
440 Fifth Street
Second Floor, Room 206
Hollister, CA 95023
www.sbcvote.us
831-636-4016
Residents of San Benito County must file in San Benito County.
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