Presenter: Census spreadsheet error doubled population figures; draft trustee-area maps to be posted March 5

A presenter at a Feb. 19 public mapping hearing for Center Joint Unified said a spreadsheet transposition error doubled population counts and citizen voting-age population (CVAP) figures in the district’s initial materials, and that corrected numbers are now posted on the district website.

“In the first one we doubled the population for your area, which doubled the CVAP,” the Presenter said, acknowledging the error and apologizing for the Excel mistake. The Presenter said staff fixed the figures and that the tables and maps now reflect the corrected census numbers.

The correction matters for how the district draws trustee areas, the Presenter said. He reviewed statutory and legal priorities the district must follow when drawing boundaries, including equal population (with up to a 10% variance allowed between largest and smallest trustee areas), compliance with federal voting-rights protections to avoid diluting protected groups’ representation, contiguity, respect for neighborhoods and communities of interest, and compactness. The Presenter referenced state-mandated criteria used in the process.

The Presenter said the district will prepare at least three draft trustee-area maps, post them on the district website on or about March 5, and present them for discussion at the board meeting scheduled for March 12. He said the public and trustees will have another round of discussion once draft maps are available.

On population targets, the Presenter gave a working figure of 5,902 residents per trustee area and explained the 10% variance would be roughly an additional 590 people if a trustee area needs to account for projected growth. He noted some parts of Plaster County are growing and may be shaped to accommodate near-term development.

The Presenter also reviewed CVAP distributions derived from the American Community Survey. He said Hispanic CVAP in the district was estimated at 3,105 and walked the board through map colorings for Black/African American and Asian CVAP concentrations, cautioning that dark colors on block maps can be misleading without underlying block-level counts.

District staff asked trustees and members of the public for input on communities of interest and local boundary cues — for example, suggestions to keep particular neighborhoods together or to use major roads such as Watt Avenue or Baseline Road as dividing lines. The Presenter said such feedback can be submitted before final maps are adopted and that additional public meetings will follow the posting of draft maps.

No motions or votes were taken during the Feb. 19 session; the hearing was informational and designed to elicit public input ahead of the draft map release.