A final district map city officials say will best join together the most similar communities has been selected as San Clemente moves to by-district elections next year following a lawsuit threat arguing minority neighborhoods might not have been getting their share of representation in city elections.
The map sets how the seaside town will be sliced up into new voting districts with each choosing a council member for the dais. The city will also add a mayor seat directly elected by voters in 2026; previously the role was rotated with councilmembers choosing who among themselves would wield the gavel for the next year.
The final map choice by the council, known as Map 111, differs from a previous map that had gotten support in October. Map 111 keeps the city’s central coastal communities west of the 5 freeway together, most importantly for many the Pier Bowl neighborhood.
The new District 3 – Councilmember Rick Loeffler lives in that area now – extends from Shorecliffs on the city’s north end all the way south toward Trafalgar Canyon. The ocean borders the district on the west, the 5 Freeway is on the eastern edge, and the area includes the communities of North Beach, Del Mar and the Pier Bowl.
District 1 goes from the 5 freeway on the west, the Dana Point border on the north, Avenida Pico on the south and Forester Highlands to the east. It is home to Councilmember Victor Cabral, who on Tuesday, Dec. 5, was selected to serve as mayor for the next year. Mark Enmeier will serve as mayor pro tem.
District 2 includes the city’s north eastern communities down to Avenida La Pata on the south – Chris Duncan is the only councilmember from that area.
District 4 is a long, largely inland district that extends south of Avenida Pico and Avenida La Pata to along the town’s southern border with Camp Pendleton and consists of the communities of Rancho San Clemente and the coastal community of Cyprus Shores. Councilmembers Steve Knoblock and Enmeier both live in the district.
The final map was selected by a council majority of 3-2, with Cabral switching his vote after receiving, he said, about 20 emails from residents who preferred it.
In the end, he said he doesn’t think how the districts are drawn makes much of a difference.
“I’ve never been keen on any districts,” he said Friday. “People win or lose based on what they do for San Clemente. I’m not just going to represent my own district. We’re one city, we’ve got to look at all the issues.”
“The lines are just lines.”
The switch to by-district elections comes after San Clemente’s at-large system – used for decades – was challenged in July for being “racially polarizing” and diluting the voice of minority groups. Several cities and school and special districts in California have already made the change to district elections after receiving similar challenges.
The San Clemente council will give the topic one final review on Jan. 16, before the new districts would begin to go into effect for the November election.
At that time, the council seats representing the more coastal District 3 and District 4 would be on the ballot and in 2026 voters in District 1 and District 2 would choose their councilmembers. The at-large election for mayor would be held in 2026.
