The City of Sonoma is transitioning from at-large elections to district-based elections for City Council. As part of this process, draft district maps have been developed by the City's professional demographer, incorporating community input and compliance with the FAIR MAPS Act.
Preferred Draft Maps & Revisions
At the March 5, 2025,public hearing, the City Council chose Draft Map B as the preferred option and requested a slight modification, resulting in Draft Map B2.
To help illustrate the changes, an overlay comparison map is also provided, showing how Draft B2 differs from the original Draft B.
The City Council reviewed both maps at the March 19, 2025, public hearing and made further revisions to Draft Map B. The new version, Draft Map B3, will be reviewed at the final public hearing on April 2, 2025. Also provided is Draft Map B with Staff Proposed Numbering for consideration.
Draft Map to be Considered at April 2nd Public Hearing
Community members are still encouraged to participate in the districting process by drawing and submitting their own district maps using the Districtr online mapping tool. This tool allows residents to create and propose district boundaries that reflect their communities of interest. Any new submissions will be reviewed and considered as part of the ongoing discussion.
Sonoma residents were invited to submit district map proposals to help shape the City's transition to district-based elections. Professional demographers have reviewed each submission for compliance with districting criteria.
Maps that meet the legal requirements may be considered by the City Council. Those that require minor adjustments can be refined with input from the City's demographer.
The FAIR MAPS Act guides the districting process to ensure fair representation. The criteria include:
Population Equality – Districts must be balanced within a 10% deviation
Contiguity – Districts must be connected
Communities of Interest – Districts should preserve shared social and economic interests
Identifiable Boundaries – Clear, recognizable district lines
Compactness – Districts should be logically shaped
This document evaluates the 16 public-submitted maps (7 four-district and 9 five-district) for compliance. City Council may select compliant maps for further consideration or request refinements to promising submissions.
