NCFPD board approves slightly modified election zone map

Joe Naiman

Village News Reporter

The North County Fire Protection District board adopted an election zone map with minor revisions to the current boundaries.

A 4-0 NCFPD board vote Dec. 14, with David Kennedy absent, approved what is known as Map Number 4. The boundaries will be used in the 2022, 2024, 2026, 2028, and 2030 elections.

“This buttons up the redistricting process for North County Fire,” said NCFPD fire chief Keith McReynolds.

In April 2019, the NCFPD board approved a change from elections at large to seats by election zones. Elections by zone require candidates to live in that zone, and the election for that seat is by voters within that zone. The maximum allowable variance between the highest-populated and least-populated election area is 10% based on the most recent census data.

When the map was adopted based on the 2010 census the variance between the most populated and least populated zones was 4.8% with no zone deviating from an equal share of the total population by more than 2.3%.

A new census triggers a review of the election zone map. The census update revised Fallbrook's population from 49,355 to 55,317, which would require approximately 11,000 residents in each trustee area. Much of the growth has been along the Interstate 15 corridor. New election zones were on the agenda of the Sept. 21 NCFPD board meeting, and the board decision was to begin with a public workshop.

A community workshop on proposed redistricting maps was held Oct. 5. Three maps were provided at the meeting, including a map with the existing boundaries. NCFPD apparatus engineer Dustin Glasgow is also a geotech specialist and was able to create boundary changes in real time, so a fourth map with minor changes to accommodate population equality was created Oct. 5.

“It cleaned up our edges,” McReynolds said.

Zone 1 covers the Downtown Fallbrook area, including NCFPD Station 1 on Ivy Street. Zone 2 covers the eastern end of the town and also covers Reche Road and Stage Coach Lane, and NCFPD Station 2 in the Winterwarm area of Fallbrook is in that zone. Zone 3 covers Rainbow and other NCFPD territory north of East Mission Road and includes NCFPD Station 3 in Rainbow. Zone 4 east of Gird Road and north of State Route 76 includes Live Oak Park and Pala Mesa, and Station 4 is in Pala Mesa. Zone 5 covering Bonsall and southern Fallbrook including the Olive Hill area is where Station 5 in Bonsall is located. The revised maps retain one fire station in each election zone.

“I was very pleased with the adjustments that were made,” McReynolds said. “We really did maintain our communities of interest.”

In the adopted map, Zone 1 has 11,002 residents including 8,045 who are Latino; Zone 2 has 11,467 including 4,065 Latino residents; Zone 3 has a population of 11,005 with 4,573 Latinos; Zone 4 has 11,197 people including 2,640 of Latino ethnicity, and Zone 5 has 10,646 residents including 1,923 Latino ones.

The Oct. 5 meeting was a public workshop with no board vote. The Oct. 26 meeting provided a board preference and a 4-0 vote that day with Kennedy absent supported Draft Map Number 4.

A final hearing was required which occurred Dec. 14.

“It was a very smooth process,” McReynolds said.