Saddleback/South Beach : MISSION VIEJO : Saddleback Trustees to Redraw Boundaries

Saddleback Community College District trustees have decided to redraw election area boundaries before the November, 1996, election.

Trustees are elected by districtwide vote, but they must live in the trustee area they represent.

Trustees on Monday, after nearly a year of discussion, resolved to change boundaries in order to have roughly the same number of people in each trustee area.

Trustees also asked district staff to prepare information on the pros and cons of both at-large elections and ward elections, district spokeswoman Diane Riopka said.

The board had five seats when the district was formed in 1967. That was increased to seven in 1972, which was also the last time changes were made to trustee area boundaries.

The issue of whether to reconfigure trustee area boundaries first came up last November but it wasn’t until Monday that trustees took action.

Because trustees are elected at-large, the district is not required by the state education code to redraw trustee areas to balance the population among the seven areas.

The estimated cost to reconfigure trustee area boundaries will be about $10,000 to $12,000, according to a staff report.

A series of public meetings must be held before the district can submit an approved petition and maps to the Orange County Committee on School District Organization.

The paperwork would have to be turned in by March 1, 1996, to change trustee area boundaries before the general election.