Tracy council selects ‘Green’ district map, sets sequencing for 2026 and 2028 elections

The Tracy City Council selected the Green districting plan for the city’s first by-district elections and set which districts will hold elections in 2026 and 2028 after a public hearing and consultant presentation.

City Clerk April Quintanilla outlined the hearing’s purpose: receive a report from staff and the city’s demographic consultant, review draft and public-submitted maps, hear public input and, if ready, select a final map and determine the sequence of initial district elections. Demographer Michael Wagaman reviewed three revised plans and described the traditional redistricting criteria — equal population, contiguity, communities of interest and compactness — and noted the plans reflect trade-offs among those priorities.

Wagaman cautioned that the decennial 2020 census is the legal basis for equal-population calculations and that American Community Survey data are used only for certain estimates such as citizen voting-age population. "Don't focus on the politics," Wagaman told the council, saying the process must avoid considering parties or incumbents.

Public commenters included neighborhood residents and civil-rights advocates. Melissa Barrett of the NAACP said districting "is in fact a civil rights issue," urging transparency, community-centered engagement and care for historically underrepresented communities. Other residents urged maps that keep established neighborhoods and school boundaries intact.

After council discussion of priorities — keeping neighborhoods and schools together and preserving downtown cohesion — Mayor Dan Areola moved to select the Green plan; Mayor Pro Tem Abercrombie seconded and the council approved the selection on a unanimous roll-call vote.

Council then addressed sequencing. Outside counsel advised placing districts with historically lower turnout or underrepresentation in general-election years (2028) and considering growth areas that may be underpopulated under 2020 census counts. The council voted to hold elections in current Districts 2 and 3 in 2026 and Districts 1 and 4 in 2028; staff will make a ministerial renumbering to align odd/even sequencing for clarity.

Finally, the council directed staff to prepare an ordinance implementing by-district elections for introduction at the Jan. 20, 2026 council meeting. All motions passed unanimously by roll call.

What happens next: staff will prepare the ordinance for introduction Jan. 20, 2026; technical block-by-block edits may be made to ensure lines follow the same side of streets; further public comment will be taken when the ordinance is introduced.